The Man Behind the Makeup
by MissyMaestro
Summary: When a young woman is kidnapped by the Joker for reasons she doesn't quite understand, she finds that, perhaps, things are not as they seem.
1. The Sneeze

It all started off innocent enough.

It was a Thursday morning. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, you know. It was the usual cliché morning. That happy morning found me at the Gotham City Bank, looking to withdraw some cash for the weekend. The instant I reached the friendly old bank teller, the sound of glass shattering filled the building.

"Excuse me," a voice exclaimed.

We Gotham residents knew the drill. In half a second, we'd dropped to our stomachs on the floor. Looking around at each other, we nodded reassurance to those who looked scared. Things like this tended to happen all the time in Gotham. There was generally a break-in, robbery, murder, kidnapping, or anything else on any given day. At least we always had good stories to tell.

"Very, very good!" the same voice mocked. "Now, my men will need all the money."

The tellers went about gathering packets of twenties in a panic. Seven men wearing all black except for white clown masks rushed past us and pointed their guns every which way, all shouting orders.

I looked up. Standing above me was the town's newest, most demented villain. The Joker wore white, black, and red makeup all over his face. He didn't seem to notice me, for he was simply observing and supervising the robbery. Probably didn't want to get his gloved hands dirty.

After just a few moments, the masked men ran for the door, their bags stuffed with bills. I saw the Joker turn to leave, but unfortunately, at that moment, I felt tingling in my nose. This is the first time I felt frightened. I was going to draw attention to myself unintentionally. The Joker usually did something about such people. A second later, I sneezed my delicate, girly sneeze. The Joker slowly looked down at me, just as I'd feared he would.

"Bless you." He looked into my eyes for a moment before pulling out a gun from his jacket pocket and pointing it at my face. Some of the masked men chuckled. In the blink of an eye, The Joker pointed the gun over his shoulder and shot at the group of accomplices. One fell dead. "Less people to split the money with," he said over his shoulder.

Suddenly, more shots rang out and more bodies fell. Then? Silence.

"They're all killed each other," I whispered breathlessly to no one in particular.

The Joker's grin faded a bit and his eyes narrowed. "Speak up, my dear."

"They're all killed each other. You planned that, didn't you? You're a smart man, as much as I hate to admit it. You are a criminal, after all." I didn't look up at him. A grenade in the mouth, a gun to the head, anything could be coming.

"Oh ho ho ho! So it is you. It's you, it's you. Just like from the pictures and the videos. How delightful." The Joker scooped me up off of the floor and carried me towards the exit. "Good! I do enjoy company."

At that point, I was very confused. I was being kidnapped by the Joker because I said he was smart? "What pictures and videos?" I squealed, too afraid to strike him or struggle. "You've got the wrong girl!"

"Oh, no, no, no. Is your name Crystal Thomas?" the Joker stopped walking and awaited my answer.

"Yes, that's my name," I said suspiciously. "What pictures and videos are you talking about? Has somebody been spying on me?"

"Well, time to go!" The Joker continued on his way, holding me a bit tighter in his arms as I began to squirm.

"Let her down! Let her be," the old teller begged, stepping forward.

"Believe me. She's better off this way." The Joker then laughed a terrible laugh. That's the last thing I remembered before he hit me over the head and knocked me out.


	2. Accidental Accomplice

Now is_ probably_ a good time to tell you about myself. Like the Joker somehow already knew, my name is Crystal Thomas. I'm twenty-four, have long brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, fair skin, and am not particularly tall. I was raised by my mother, but she moved away from Gotham a few years ago, saying that she'd had "enough of these constant criminal acts and messes about the town." I stayed here to fend for myself. Where is my father in this picture, you ask? Laugh if you must, but my mom always told me that my father was too busy to have a family. She said that he tried, but it just didn't work out. Being a child, I needed more answers. My mother gave them to me. Father loved me, she'd said, but he also loved Gotham. He had to do what was right and keep the bad guys from doing bad things. For a while I figured that this meant that my father was a police officer, but I grew older and realized that this wasn't true. When the truth finally came out, I barely believed it. My father, apparently, was the Batman. Like I said, laugh if you must, but I believe it. Batman is my father. I'd never seen him up close, and he's not exactly the type you can compare yourself to and pick out traits that you share. Yet, somehow, I just know my mother wasn't lying.

But that's enough about me. Back to the story.

It can't have been very long that I was out, because when I came to, the Joker was in the driver's seat of a flower delivery van, and I was in the passenger seat. We were just pulling out through the bank's broken storefront and onto the street when sirens came screaming around the corner. Not suspecting a flower truck, however, they allowed us to drive right past.

I tried to sit up and look around, but found that my seatbelt was buckled tight. Pausing for a moment, I looked at the Joker. Wasn't this man supposed to be ruthless and hateful? Why should he care about my safety?

"Oh good, you're awake. Welcome to the chase," the Joker said, acknowledging me casually.

"Chase?" I asked, rubbing my head and blinking my eyes a few times.

As if right on cue, a few police cars tore around a corner and were right behind us.

"Hold onto something, my dear! It's about to get a little bit rough!" The Joker exclaimed, cackling in delight as a police car rear-ended us.

I looked over my shoulder into the back of the van. There were all types of flower arrangements, all very beautiful. Then there were the bags of stolen money. Another jolt from the back threw me forward. My seat belt locked.

"I told you to hold onto something," the Joker said, rolling down his window and sticking his head out. "Now maybe, just maybe, you'll listen! Some people just have to learn things the hard way." He giggled.

Ahead of us, in the middle of the road, a stray dog sat, chewing on his foot.

"Um," I quietly said, tapping the Joker on the shoulder. "There's a dog,"

"I know what I'm doing, you just sit tight!" Obviously, he was ignoring me. But then again, he was hanging out the window of a moving flower van. I gave him a little credit.

"But there's a dog! We're going to hit it!"

"I just need to finish something." The Joker grabbed a gun from under his seat, completely let go of the steering wheel, and leaned far out of the window.

I reached over and frantically fumbled to grab the steering wheel. The van veered onto the sidewalk. I took a very sharp right turn, trying to avoid a group of children who were screaming, frozen in fear. Completely by chance, the van rumbled down an empty alley.

The dog yawned, stretched, got up, and walked down the sidewalk casually. Stupid thing never even knew how close it was to being splattered on the cement.

"Oh, did you know there was a dog in the middle of the street? Just missed it." The Joker said, pulling himself back into the van. "Give me the wheel," he slapped my hands away. "Give me, give me."

The police cars' tires squealed as the cops tried to stop and follow us. At the other end of the alley, however, we turned onto a side street and continued on our way.

"Well, well, good driving. You, my dear, are now an accomplice to robbery, my pretty little get away driver." The Joker smiled and hit me over the head hard enough to knock me out once more.


	3. Dinner Date

I opened my eyes and became aware of an intense headache. Next, I realized that I must be blind, because the only thing I saw was white. White everywhere. Nothing else. Just white. Once I sat up, I laughed, because I'd been looking at the white ceiling of a large bedroom. I was lying on a large, round bed with red dressings. The walls were tan and the carpet was white. It looked like something that I'd have decorated, myself. A small beside table had been prepared for me. A bottle of painkillers and a tall glass of water called my name.

My head throbbed, as if to tell me that it wanted one. I popped a few into my mouth and fell back to sleep for a few minutes.

A soft knock at the door startled me from sleep.

"Ah, didn't mean to wake you, but if you're up," the Joker said, pushing the door open cheerfully.

I looked to take a drink of water, but the glass and bottle of pills were missing. "Where am I?" I sat up and rubbed my head. There was a small bump where I'd been struck.

"This is my home." The Joker raised his arms and looked around. "Humble little place, isn't it?" The man came and sat at the foot of my bed.

"What do you want with me?"

"What do I want with you?" The Joker laughed. "What do I want with you? Why, you just had this look about you that said you wanted to break the rules for once in your life. I think you were the one who wanted me. Was I right?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. When can I go home?"

"Go home? You've only arrived. How about you make yourself comfortable. Dinner will be ready at six, and there are things in the closet for you to wear. Might I suggest the green number?" The Joker laughed and disappeared into the hall. A moment later, however, he was back with a large vase of flowers. I recognized them from the back of the van. Clearing his throat, he placed them on the bedside table. "I am very sorry for knocking you unconscious. Twice." But with the laughter that followed, I doubted if he was serious.

"Uh, thank you." I looked at the flowers and then back at him. "They're, uh, nice."

"Dinner at six!" The Joker pulled the door shut behind him.

I stood up and walked toward the window. Heavy red curtains covered the windows. I pulled them open to reveal an amazing view of Gotham. Wherever I was must have been somewhere on the very edge of the city. I could see everything. Turning away, I walked to the closet and pulled it open. My jaw dropped. There must have been twenty evening gowns hanging on one side, and a few more professional-looking outfits hanging on the other side next to casual clothing. I had no idea what he wanted me to wear, so I threw a few gowns onto the bed. Since there was women's clothing in the closet, for some strange reason, I assumed there would be jewelry in the drawers. After all, the Joker must have stolen a ton in his day. Pulling open a dresser drawer, I found an old photo album. I picked it up to look under it, but a photo fell out. Looking down at the floor, I saw a young man smiling up at me. He was holding a diploma and standing with a woman. On the back was written, 'Jack's high school graduation.'

"Jack," I said aloud to myself. Who was Jack?

I heard footsteps in the hall and hastily stuffed the album back and slammed the drawer shut. Whichever dress I decided on would surely look fine without a necklace or earrings. I was slightly nervous as I slid into a sparkly pink gown with a corset top and up-skirt. Although I had just been kidnapped and knocked out by a well-known villain, I did feel a strange comfortable feeling sinking in. It scared me.

"Hello," I called as I crept through the hallway. There were many rooms and hallways. This was surely a mansion. Part of me was sure that the Joker was going to jump out at me. Maybe just to scare me, maybe to hurt me. I turned a corner and was suddenly in a large dining room. Two places were set at a table for thirty, one across from the other. Foods of all different types were set out, and there were flowers and candles everywhere.

"Ah, here you are. Sit, sit down and have a bite to eat." The Joker appeared and took me by the hand to a seat. He pulled out my chair for me and smiled. "Beautiful. Simply beautiful. I can sure pick them huh?" I was surprised to see that he still wore his makeup.

"Um, why am I here? It was only after I sneezed that you decided you wanted me."

"Yes," The Joker said, sitting down opposite me and reaching for a drumstick. "Because I've finally found you. I know about you. I know your story, Miss Thomas." He chuckled and stuffed a carrot into his mouth.

"How do you know my name?"

"Come, come! Eat before the food gets cold." The Joker tossed me a roll and slopped a spoonful of mashed potatoes onto my plate. "There will be a time for questions, but this isn't it. Someone's going to be quite unhappy if the food they've prepared goes uneaten."

I did as I was told, but as soon as I'd eaten my fill, I set my napkin on the table and began again. "Please, why am I here?"

"I don't want to say that you're my latest hostage, but," the Joker shrugged and stood up. Walking to my side of the table, he continued. "Congratulations! You're my latest hostage. Having you here with me will benefit both of us. There's a certain person out there who will find out you've gone missing and will want you back to safety as soon as possible. Knowing him, he'll be on edge until they know where you are."

"And how does this benefit me? You're just bullying someone by kidnapping me?" I scoffed.

"Well, I happen to know who your father is. Yes, yes," he said as soon as he saw my jaw drop. "Batman's little girl. He'll be heartbroken to know you're gone, even though he hasn't even looked at you since the day you were born." He took a large drink of wine and exhaled happily.

"This still doesn't benefit me! Let me go!"

"No, no, no. I haven't gotten to that part yet. Just be patient, young Miss Thomas." He took another drink and a bite of a roll. "Because of your famous daddy, you know, the one with the cape and stuff," he took another drink; "there's a group of baddies after you. They're after your DNA, I guess. They don't realize that Batman is nothing more than a man. They think he's allergic to kryptonite, or something."

"So you're telling me that you're keeping me safe from these people? I doubt they even exist. You're insane." I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Please. What do you want with me?"

The Joker ignored me. "Fortunately, no one knows that this is where I am. To them, this is just some rich man's playground. That's why I knocked you out, so you wouldn't know the way here," he added. "Nothing personal, of course."

"Of course." I swallowed. This made me nervous. "Who is going to miss me?"

The Joker cackled and pulled out my chair. "Come; let's take a walk to the roof."


	4. My Release

I sighed and let him lead me down multiple corridors and up a staircase to the roof. It was more beautiful than the view from my window.

"How is it that villains like you can have such beautiful places like this? Surely you don't appreciate anything beautiful in life." I sighed and leaned on the railing.

"Oh, even though I may not be a very nice person, I still appreciate beauty, and you are beautiful. You're right. I do like beautiful things." He touched my cheek and let his hand run down to my shoulder. I slapped his hand away, afraid of what he was going to do.

"Ooh, feisty. Good. This will be interesting."

"Okay. One: don't you dare touch me. And two? Who is going to miss me?" I was gaining some confidence from somewhere, but I didn't know where.

"Oh," The Joker leaned against the railing, too. "The Batman will miss you, well, once he figures out that you're in possible danger by the simple fact that you're with me. And, forgive me, Miss Thomas, but this is the perfect opportunity to taunt him. No one is going to be harmed, but come on! I love messing with the Batman." He laughed to himself.

"You're not trying to save me. I don't believe you." I pouted and crossed my arms over his chest.

"Okay, fine. You may leave at any time; just make sure that any cabs you call aren't called directly to this address. Okay? Okay!" The Joker stormed back inside. "Good luck staying in one piece!" he called from inside. I heard a few doors slam.

Not caring to waste any time, I ran back into my room and changed from the dress to my jeans. After carefully hanging the gown back up in the closet, I opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. Was the Joker going to try and stop me? He seemed sincerely honest when he told me to leave. I made my way to the front door and looked back to the landing. A soft sigh sounded from around the corner, but I acted like I didn't hear it and left. Was that sympathy gnawing on my heartstrings? I cleared my throat and wished it away.

A few blocks down the street, one on which I'd never been, I found a payphone and called a cab. Twenty minutes and a cab would be right at that exact spot. It wasn't easy getting comfortable on the curb, but somehow, I managed. Not even five minutes after I initially sat down, a pair of headlights made their way to me. Expecting the cab, I stood up and waited, noting to tip well, because no cab driver is every fifteen minutes early. The car pulled over, but it was a police car, not a cab.

"Oh, hi, officers. I'm just waiting for a cab." I smiled and shrugged.

The officer in the passenger seat opened the door, and in one swift move, picked me up and threw me into the backseat. After swiftly handcuffing me, he slammed the door.

"What are you doing? I'm not doing anything wrong, I," I screamed in confusion.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law," the police officer said in a mock voice before laughing. "I love this job. Cops. Cops? Come on. Everyone trusts a cop, don't they?"

To this, the other mock officer replied, "Oh, sure, sure. I'll give it to you this time. Maybe cops were a better idea than a school bus driver."

"A much better idea."

Whimpering a little, I looked out the windows. Not knowing where I was in the first place, how was I supposed to know where I was headed? What a bad day. "Please, please. I think you have the wrong person. I was really just waiting for a cab," I paused. "Who are you looking for?"

"We're looking for you, Miss Thomas. We've been needing you for a while," the first man snickered. "Or should we call you Little Miss Bat?"

My head dropped. The Joker had been right. How was I to know who were truly the bad people in this town? Like I was supposed to immediately trust the Joker, the merciless villain?

The police radio crackled, and then an announcement broke in. "Robbery at Central and First. All units, report to the scene. There will be repercussions for any squad cars who do not report."

"Damn it!" the first cop muttered, pounding a fist on the steering wheel, accidentally honking the horn. He cleared his throat in embarrassment. "How the hell are we supposed to get her to the house if we have to go to this damn scene? We can't take her along and leave her in the car. It's way too suspicious."

"You're taking me to try and get my DNA, aren't you?" I bravely asked, quite afraid as I spoke.

"Who told you?" the second man said, spinning around to look at me.

"I'm," I stuttered, "I, uh, I'm not stupid, okay? You should know that. If I was, would you really want my genes? I didn't think so!"

The second man struck me across the cheek. An ugly ring he was wearing left a bright red cut on my face.

"Damn it, don't contaminate her with anything, moron!" the first man exclaimed. "How're we going to get the Bat gene when you just put your nasty hand scum in her?"

"Listen," the second man said, shrugging and shaking his head. "We'll knock her out; stuff her behind some bushes or something, then go to the scene. Won't take very long if all units are reporting. We knock her out, go there, come back, pick her up, and take her to the team. Easy, right?"

"Sure is," the first man said, striking me unconscious before I could react.

"What did I tell you," a hash voice rang in my head. "I told you the truth and you didn't believe me."

Cold water in my face. Someone had thrown a cup of cold water in my face and I could move again. The bump on my head that had finally started going away was back again, and so was my headache. Everything spun when I opened my eyes, but the darkness of the night before had fallen even deeper. The men had come back for me. Surely that was what was happening, I thought to myself. Sitting up quickly, I swung my arms wildly, determined to fight them off and get to safety. "Get back, get back! Both of you!"

"No, no, no, my dear," the voice said as someone gently grabbed my wrists and put my arms back down at my sides. He or she pushed me down to the ground. Something cold was on my forehead and I was falling back asleep.

"Damn it," the voice said, this time sounding angry. It sounded like the person got up and took a few steps.

I was fading and fading fast. Unaware of what exactly was happening, I squeezed my eyes shut. The only things I was aware of were the terrible sounds. There was shouting, tires squealing, car horns honking, gunshots, dogs barking, screaming, and moaning. I guess nothing happened to me, though, because I fell right back into unconsciousness and slept.


	5. Running an Errand

Startled, I woke up. Where was I? This wasn't my house. Ah, yes, I recognized the room. I was back with the Joker. My appointed room was cozy and warm. Safe. The bed was incredibly comfortable. I snuggled in deeper and tried to remember the last night. A frown crept onto my lips. Because I hadn't believed the Joker, I left, and was almost kidnapped, again. But how did I end up back here? I felt a blush rise in my cheeks. The Joker was obviously the one who was tending me when he ran into some trouble. Sunshine flooded the room, but I didn't care to actually get up until knocks came at the door. My head throbbed a little bit in response. Before I could reply, the door swung open and the Joker brought in a tray of breakfast food. The strange thing? He was already wearing his white powder and his red lipstick.

"Thank you," I said. I couldn't help but smile. My once kidnapper was treating me like a valued guest instead of a prisoner. Unable to help myself, I blurted, "What is all of this for?"

"I thought bringing you breakfast would be quickest. I have an errand to run. You're coming along. Eat up! We're leaving in an hour." The Joker made to leave the room, but I stopped him.

"What's the errand? Do you," I paused in thought, "need me?"

"No, you're going to be sitting in the van, actually. I'm not going to leave you here unattended." The Joker winked. "Now eat." He shut the door again.

"Wait," I called, hoping he'd come back.

The door opened and he looked in.

"Ah, I'm sorry." I couldn't even bare to look at him. I just stared down at the comforter.

The Joker stepped back into the room and leaned against the door frame. "Huh, why would that be, Miss Thomas? Did we learn a little lesson? Did we learn that listening to the Joker is the smartest thing to do right now? Good girl. Brains and boobs. I like."

"What happened? All I remember was these two men grabbing me, then they had to go to some police thing, and so they knocked me out, and,"

The Joker cut me off. "I went out looking for you, because I knew you wouldn't be safe out there, which, like I said before, is why I brought you here in the first place. Those cops? They were some scientists who want your skin for research. Listen. You're safe with me." He licked his lips and stared at me.

"May I," I asked, pausing for a second, trying to spit out the words, "stay here? Will you keep me safe?"

"Of course. Oh, and you've been out for two days." He closed the door again and was gone.

I felt both very foolish and very selfish. Also? Very confused. But I guess it must have been natural, having been kidnapped twice in one day. Could I seriously be trusting the man who got me into this mess in the first place?

It was time to focus my attention on something else. The food, just as it had when I'd been served dinner, looked delicious. I couldn't help but wonder if the Joker made it himself, or if he had some sort of cook hidden somewhere in the giant mansion. Once I bit into the waffle, I could care less who made it. It was amazing.

"Some nasty cut you've got on your cheek, there," The Joker said once we were back in the flower van, on our way to some errand that he wouldn't tell me about. A flowery perfume hung in the air, although yesterday he must have dumped all of the vases of arrangements somewhere. The back of the van was empty.

"Yeah, last night," I weakly explained. "He hit me."

"Well, well, maybe now you'll finally believe me."

"I do," I said, biting my lip. "Would they have found me at my home, do you think?"

Nodding, the Joker replied, "They found you sitting on the curb on some random street you've never been on before. They know everything about you, and I'm sure your house has been ransacked by now."

Narrowing my eyes, I decided to test the ice a little bit further. "So, how'd you end up in this business, you know, being a villain?"

The Joker shrugged. "Seems to fit me. Gotta love your job."

Huh. Just a normal guy holding a conversation. He was much different that he had been at the bank.

The chatter came to an abrupt halt. Our flower van had just been rear ended with a mighty crash.

"What, who was that?" I exclaimed. "Is this your innocent little errand that I just had to come along for? Is this your sick idea of a joke?"

Whoever it was hit us again.

"It's better if they see that you never leave my side, my little pet." The Joker checked over his shoulder. "Look, you don't even have to worry. Not the scientists. Just the mob." A look of relief passed his face.

"Just the mob?" I squealed. "Well, they don't need me for anything, so they're more likely to kill me!" I held onto the armrest and took a few deep breaths. "This couldn't get any worse." But, it did. Gunshots rang out, and the back of our van was getting torn to shreds.

"That's a shotgun," I whimpered, ducking down lower in the seat.

"Good girl," the Joker said, speeding up and swerving in and out of traffic. "Always good to know your weapons early on." He stepped on the gas just as the stoplight turned from yellow to red.


	6. Two Bad Guys and a Girl

I screamed as we barreled through the intersection. A school bus tapped the back end of the van, and sent us veering an oncoming car. We plowed into a carful of teenaged boys. Smoke filled the van, and the engine started on fire.

"Damn," the Joker said, unbuckling his belt. "Are you alive?"

I moaned. The windshield had shattered and sent glass flying towards me. From the way it stung, I figured that my face must look like a tack board.

"Good. Stay here. Look, the smoke's already clearing and the fire's not going to hurt anything." He fetched his gun from under the seat and hopped out into the middle of the street. "Sorry for the disturbance, ladies and gentleman," he then walked towards the truck with the crunched up front end. "You boys have a problem with a florist going to deliver his flowers? Hmm? People paid for those, you know,"

"Shut up," a large man wearing a black leather jacket growled. A large group hopped out of the back of the truck and gathered behind him. "You owe us money. You said if we offed that cop, you'd pay us off."

"Ah, did I? Sorry, don't seem to remember!" The Joker laughed and shrugged. "Things happen, you know. Very busy man. Lots to do."

I fumbled with my seatbelt and finally unbuckled myself. Suddenly, a painful jolt seared through my arm. I looked down and gasped. A large shard of glass was sticking out of my forearm. Whimpering as I pulled it out, I closed my eyes and listened to what was going on in the street.

"Give me the money, or I'm going to shoot your balls off and ask again." The mob man crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ooh," the Joker said in mock fear. "I'd hate to upset the big mobster. Why're you after me in the broad daylight? Oh, I know. The Batman only woks the night shift and there's no way he can get you now, right? Right?"

The man fired a shot off at the Joker, who immediately shot back. The difference? The Joker didn't miss. The mobster fell dead in the middle of the street.

By this time, people were getting out of their wrecked cars and running away, or gathering together to watch. Police sirens wailed in the distance, but never really seemed to get any closer.

"Ugh," I breathed as the shard of glass had finally been worked out. I threw it on the floor and quietly opened the door and stepped out onto the street. Lucky for me I did, because at that moment, the van's engine exploded, sending pieces of the dashboard, and some more glass, everywhere. The 

attention was now on me, because I was lying on the ground covering my head, and whimpering. My blood was dripping onto the cement.

"Who's this," another mobster said, pointing his gun at me, "little sidekick? The Joke Girl? What?" He chuckled. "Lucky bastard."

"Don't worry about her, she has nothing to do with anything," the Joker said, dismissing me by simply waving his hand.

"I have an idea," the second mobster said, licking his lips and swallowing. "How about you give us that girl, and we'll call it even. You don't owe us any more money, and you quit killing our men."

"Tempting, but no," the Joker said, pulling a string of grenades out of his pocket. "Now I have a proposition for you."

The remaining mobsters huddled together and all angrily complained to one another about why no one had killed him yet.

Not exactly knowing what was going to happen next, I tried to get to my feet, but couldn't. My arms stung like crazy, and I'd landed on the pavement face down when the engine had exploded. Blood ran down my face. When this was all over, we were going to have to escape somehow. The public now knew that I was with him. The prospect of hitching a ride was bleak. Today was turning out to be another lousy day indeed.

"Now." The Joker smiled and looked at the grenades. "I can keep the money, and keep the girl, and we're even. How's that for a deal?"

"No way. One or the other and we're even."

"All right," the Joker said, shrugging. He pulled the string on the grenades and hurled them in the general direction of the cluster of men. In a great fiery explosion, his problem was solved. Finally, the sirens sounded like they were getting closer.

"This was your errand?" I called to the Joker as he turned and walked back towards me. "Killing people?" My stomach felt uneasy, on top of everything.

Suddenly, I was jolted upward and backward, and my vision was taken away. Was I flying? I had no idea what was going on until I realized someone had picked me up under my arms and was carrying me off. Men, but who?

"No!" The Joker hollered in anger, running over with his gun drawn.

Whoever had me stopped and pulled me closer. "If you shoot, how do you know you're not going to hit her? I don't know what you have to do with her, but I'm sure you don't mind if you shoot her."

The Joker then cackled and I heard a shot ring out. I squeezed my eyes shut, although I couldn't see through the blindfold anyway. Something warm hit my shoulder, and proceeded to run down my arm. Oh my gosh. I'd been shot. The Joker said he'd keep me safe, but he'd shot me and now I was going to die in the street. My teeth chattered and my body trembled. Was this what it felt like to die?


	7. Thankfully Mistaken

Apparently I was not dying, because I felt my abductor fall over, taking me down with him.

"Here, here," a familiar voice said, pulling me to my feet roughly and ripping off the blindfold. A pair of hands was pressing into the gash in my forearm, causing me to squeal in pain. "A little bloody, but it could be worse." The Joker was looking me over. "Yeah, you're just fine. Now, come on, come on, how to get out of here, how to escape," he looked around frantically. "A little help here?" he called to the few bystanders who were still watching.

I looked down. One of the fake scientist cops had just been shot in the chest, and had bled on me. Silly me, I'd thought I'd been shot. Shrugging it off, I figured that now I knew and would be able to tell next time, if there happened to be a next time.

"Ah ha!" The Joker pulled me along towards a car that was sitting at the stop line of the intersection. A frightened young woman sat inside, frozen in shock and fear.

"Out, out, out," the Joker said, opening the door and looking in. "We're going to go ahead and borrow your car, thanks. Hey, we owe you one."

When the woman didn't move, the Joker picked her up and sat her on the ground. "Thanks. You're just a doll." He roughly pushed me in, and then got in, himself.

We were out of there just seconds before the police squad arrived.


	8. Playing Doctor

"It hurts," I moaned when we were back at the house. "My arm, and my face, and I have a headache and I'm all bloody from the cop and what if I get some blood disease?" I was hyperventilating by now. My defenses were completely down towards the Joker. I figured that if he hadn't killed me yet, he wasn't going to.

The Joker had laid me on a table in a lesser dining room. Blood soaked the tablecloth as he worked on me. I squirmed and cried as he dug bits of glass out of my arm and hand. Though he never said a word the whole time, I knew he must have felt guilty for the ordeal.

"No, no, no!" I struggled when he moved to my face with the pair of tweezers he was using to pull out glass. "Don't dig in my face, you'll leave scars and I'll be ugly," I suddenly paused and grew very afraid.

"Do you want to know how I got these scars?" the Joker asked angrily, motioning to the scars around his mouth.

"No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't think, I, I," I stuttered in fear. "I didn't mean anything,"

The Joker looked as if he was going to strike me, but after a moment, shook his head and looked back down to my chin. "It'll be far worse if I don't get the glass out."

I sniffled and jumped as he plucked out the small pieces. After a few minutes, he stopped and wiped the blood from my face. "Drink this," he said as he pressed a glass into my hand.

"Wha, what is it?" I managed.

"It'll make you feel better is what it is." The Joker sat down in a chair and wiped his brow. A little white powder smeared off. He was still annoyed, but seemed to be trying very hard to be kind to me.

How convenient, I thought to myself. He's not acting at all like the Joker, and now the makeup is coming off. I raised my head enough to drink a bit. A happy sigh sounded in my throat as I grew sleepy. The last thing I recall before falling asleep was the Joker taking the glass out of my hand before it spilled. He laughed and softly said, "You'll still be beautiful even if you do get a few scars." But I never heard, because I was already out.


	9. There's a Man in the Joker's Chair

The first thing I thought this time was how sick I was of waking up somewhere completely different than I had been knocked out, or fallen asleep. This time, I wasn't even back in my room. (My room? The room the Joker had been keeping me in, that's what I should have thought. I needed to quit thinking so positively about this villain.) I was on a large black bed in a room with black walls. Actually, the entire room was black, except for a few silver accents. It was really an attractive room.

"Hello?" I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes open. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Quickly after I started, I stopped. I'd forgotten about the cuts. I looked down at my arm. It was completely bandaged.

Once again, I'd been left feeling like a selfish, ungrateful brat. The Joker had gone out of his way to save me and take care of me yet again. I'd have been dead twice over if it wasn't for him. Something had to be done. It must have been night time. The silent house was unforgiving as I walked unsteadily down the hall, searching for him.

When I finally found the Joker, he was sitting in a large stuffed chair with his back to me in a small den. A fire was crackling, and the man sighed deeply and mumbled something to himself.

"Why are you helping me?" I quietly asked. My voice had failed me, and only a whisper had come out.

The man jumped, obviously startled at my presence.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," I backed up a step.

"No," the Joker said, his back still to me. "It's all right. Come around and have a seat." He patted the arm of the chair he was sitting on.

I did as I was told. The Joker looked up at me and gave me a half-smile. For the first time in my life, I actually felt my jaw drop. The Joker wasn't wearing any of his makeup. Except for the scars at his mouth, he was just a normal man, and a very attractive one, at that. He wore jeans and a shirt, and didn't look anything like the Joker in his purple suit. Well, I knew that he was just a man underneath it all, but I'd never seen him without his makeup on. Just a normal man sitting in front of the fire with his hands folded in his lap. "Oh," I breathed. He was beautiful.

"You've never seen me like this, I know, I," he trailed off and shrugged.

I involuntarily inhaled sharply. This man wasn't the Joker. How could it be the same man? He looked different, and even sounded different. This man's voice was soft and gentle. There was something missing - that manic insane quality that he spoke with while he was wearing makeup. If I didn't know that this man was the Joker and someone told me, I'd have laughed aloud. "No, it's, uh," I stumbled.

"Don't worry about it," he said, laughing quietly to himself. "I understand."

"So," I said, still a little unsure, "why are you helping me? You and Batman are always trying to kill each other, and here I am; his daughter, in your care. The logical thing would be for you to kill me."

The Joker shrugged. "My father really wasn't there when I was younger. My mother raised me, for the most part. No one should have to go through that." He licked his lips and sighed. "I'm a villain, usually found in the company of other villains. I heard these crazy scientists talking about tracking you down and using you. It's not in my nature, but I felt like," the Joker paused, then shook his head and laughed. "Nevermind. It's going to sound stupid."

"No," I whispered, captivated, intrigued. "What?" I felt like I could really talk to this new man.

The Joker sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well, I feel like we've got a lot in common. Maybe like, like we're connected somehow. I don't know." He shook his head and looked down as a flush rose in his cheeks. "That was dumb, forget I said,"

I laughed softly. "No, it's not dumb at all."

He shrugged again and remained speechless. It was impossible for me not to stare at him. He was so very attractive, and no one would ever know because of all of the makeup. It was like looking at a completely different man. "Well, I guess I have to tell you something now, since you told me something." I laughed girlishly. Was I flirting with him? When he didn't laugh, I continued. "It's every girl's worse fear to be kidnapped by someone, especially a man, or a villain like yourself. But for some reason, even right after we left the bank, I realized that I wasn't as scared as I probably should be. It felt like I've known you before, and I knew you wouldn't hurt me. My head told me differently, but my heart said that it was going to be okay." I squeezed his hand, and was surprised when he took my hand in both of his.

The man looked at me and managed a slight smile. "Really?"

I nodded. After a moment, I spoke again. "I came to thank you. Even though this just isn't what you do, thank you so much. I'd have been dead by now if you hadn't brought me here."

"I know," he said, frowning. "I don't want to hold you prisoner here forever. I have to get rid of them, somehow, I, they," he sighed.

No one spoke for a moment, so before it got awkward, I decided to go. "I think I'd like to get back to bed now. I just thought I'm come talk to you, and, I," it was my turn to trail off.

He released my hand quickly. "Good night, Crystal."

"Good night," I paused, "um, Joker." I was halfway to the door when he called, "It's Jack, actually."

"Well then," I said, feeling myself smile warmly. "Good night, Jack.".

When I got back to my room, I shut the door and laid in bed, simply thinking about what had just happened. That man was not the man I'd been with for the past few days. The makeup was gone, and he was a completely different person. Then it hit me. Batman wasn't always Batman. He was a normal guy in the daytime. Perhaps the Joker was like that, too. I felt something inside of my get jittery and, what? Nervous? Jack was the man from the picture. My future from this point on was anyone's guess.


	10. Something There

When I wondered out into the living room to find the Joker the next morning, I found a surprise. The same man from last night was on the floor, playing with three large dogs. The Joker wasn't anywhere in sight. This new man, I decided, was not the Joker. He wasn't anything like him. The Joker was insane and wore makeup to cover up who he was, just like how Batman wore his costume to cover up his true identity. The Joker was a villain. That was just a man, and his name was Jack.

I stood hidden just behind the corner and watched. Sure, I'd seen these dogs before, but had assumed that they were guard dogs, mean security dogs. I'd kept my distance, although I did love animals.

"Apollo, come here," Jack reached for the dog's squeak toy and tugged at it. "Well, do you want me to throw it or not?" He laughed as the stubborn German shepherd growled and held onto the toy for dear life. The other two dogs, a Great Dane and a border collie, were chasing each other and nipping at each others' ankles. Jack laughed even louder when the Great Dane hurdled clearly over him. The Border collie didn't quite make it, and ended up crashing into the man, sending them both onto the floor.

I pressed my fingers to my lips, trying not to laugh.

"Ah, get off of me," Jack called. The dogs were all licking his face and standing a top of him. "Stop it, stop!" His stern voice was overtaken by his warm laugh.

Quickly, I made my way down the hall to the kitchen room before he discovered me. There was something sweet, and almost kind about him, while the Joker was mean, course, and unrefined. Had these traits been there the whole time underneath the paint? I wondered why I never saw it before. Unable to help myself, I snuck back and peeked around the corner.

"I'm a man again, boys. She's bringing me back. I let her see me last night. She wasn't even scared, I don't think." He smiled. The dogs sat and looked at him like they were actually listening. "But I am a monster, so I shouldn't even get my hopes up." Heaving a large sign, he tossed the squeak toy. The dog brought it right back to him. Tilting his head, Jack spoke again: "But it was just how she looked at me, really looked at me." He sighed and threw the squeak toy across the room, in my direction. The dogs tore off after it and towards me. I stepped back a few feet.

This was a completely new development; and it was almost alarming. Not in a million years did I dream that I'd end up staying with the Joker. So maybe he wasn't Prince Charming, but there was something in him that no one else had probably ever seen. Maybe there was something there that wasn't there before.

Things at Jack's home were becoming rather routine. There were never any visitors, and we barely had to leave the house. The Joker hadn't been around a month and a half. It'd just been me and Jack. At first I'd been antsy and wanted to get the scientist problem taken care of right away, but living 

here was much more pleasant than living in my small house alone. It was almost like an instant romance.

"Good morning," Jack said, popping his head into my room. "What would you like for breakfast?"

I rolled over and opened an eye. "Mmm," I replied before rolling over and turning my back to him. Sleep now. Food later.

"I don't think we have any of that around," he laughed, coming in and sitting on the edge of my bed. "Anything in particular, or do I have to continue surprising you?"

"Mmm hmm," I agreed. It was just one of those mornings.

Jack laughed and stood up. "Okay, okay, I'll give you a half hour, and then it's breakfast time."

Things were going very well. Most mornings played out like that. Neither of us had to work. I hated to acknowledge it, but the Joker had probably stolen his share of money, which meant that Jack never had to work a day in his life. But it was a good life, and suddenly, it was my life, too.


	11. Tiptoe in the Dark

The next week or so, I realized something rather dangerous one night after dinner. Jack was playing with the dogs in the living room. He was just sprawled out on the floor, throwing the toy for the dogs, and then throwing it again when they'd bring it back. "You know," he said to me as I sat reading on the couch, "maybe this isn't such a bad idea."

"What," I laughed, "playing with the dogs? They haven't mauled you yet, and I really don't think they're planning anything against you. Who would throw that gross, slobbery thing if you weren't around?"

Jack sat up and laughed. "That's very funny." Apollo licked him directly in the ear. "Knock that off," he laughed, pushing the dog's snout away. "Go lick Zeus."

"Well, what isn't such a bad idea?" I sat my book down and looked at him.

It looked as if he was trying to hold back a smile. "I don't know," he managed to spit out seriously. He smiled, then he laughed. "You know what; let's just forget about everyone out there."

"What?" I said, tilting my head to the side. "What do you mean? We don't see anyone else anyway."

"Those scientists? They don't know where they are. They won't bother us. I think you're totally safe here." He stood up and came to sit by me on the couch, but Zeus beat him to it.

"Ooh," I teased, "too slow."

Jack cleared his throat, and Zeus sheepishly got down and lay by my feet on the floor. "Well," he said, putting his arm around me, "I," he stopped and ran a hand through his hair. "Um, uh,"

"Jack," I laughed. "What?"

"Nevermind. I'll ask you later." He shook his head and laughed. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Whatever he was going to ask was obviously important. The feeling stuck when he moved his arm away from me.

That night as I lay in bed trying desperately to sleep, curiosity overtook me. What had he been trying to say to me? What was he going to ask? For some reason, I thought he was going to ask me to live with him indefinitely. I knew that sleep wouldn't come until I found out. So, with that fact in hand, I stood up and looked in the mirror. My blood red nightie clung to me. Jack was feeding me very well, and healthfully, so I'd dropped a few pounds. I liked how my body looked, and for some reason, didn't grab my robe when I left my room for Jack's.

Apollo, Zeus, and Ares were sleeping around Jack's bed. I hadn't foreseen this obstacle. Softly whistling, I got the dogs to get up and go out to the hallway. My breath was growing faster, just like my heartbeats. I perched myself on the edge of Jack's bed, unsure of what to do next. My plan had only gone this far.

Jack rolled over and exhaled.

For a few minutes I just stared at him. He was the most gorgeous man in Gotham. His only fault was the scars, but I was so used to them by now that I barely even noticed they were there. I slowly reached out and softly touched his cheek. I was extremely startled when he jumped awake.

"Crystal," he mumbled, "what's wrong? Are you okay?" He shook his head and blinked sleepily a few times.

"I'm fine," I said, quickly putting my hands in my lap.

"What do you need?" he mumbled, clearing his throat, and stretching his neck.

"What were you going to ask me earlier?" I asked, fully aware that he wouldn't remember this in the morning.

"Earlier? Oh, oh, yeah." He cleared his throat again. "Crystal, are you happy here with me?" Jack looked up at me and took my hand.

"Yes, I'm happy. Why?"

"Well," Jack yawned, but continued, "I want you to stay here with me."

"Jack," I said, feeling rather disappointed, "I am staying here with you. I pretty much live here now, don't I? But then, I haven't really got any choice."

"You do have a choice. I can help you move away, out of Gotham, and they won't find you. I have the money to keep you hidden and happy. Or, if you want, you can stay here with me. We could get things from your house, and we could live together here." Jack blinked heavily a few more times. He definitely wasn't awake. There was no way he'd remember talking to me. After a yawn, "I'd love to have you stay."

I'd had a lurking feeling that this is what he was going to ask me, but it still surprised me and left me speechless. Yet? I felt loved, all at the same time. "Jack," I said, smiling, "how about we just figure out the scientist thing first before we decide who's moving where, okay?"

Jack sighed and closed his eyes. "Okay, that makes sense." He took a few deep breaths and then with a mighty jump, was truly awake. "Crystal," he said in confusion as he sat up and put his hands on my arms. "Is something wrong? Why aren't you in bed?"

"I," I paused, thinking. "I just had a bad dream and was wondering if you'd check the house for me. I thought I heard a noise,"

"Of course," he cut me off.

I stood up as he threw back the covers and got out of bed. He was wearing nothing but his boxers. I could feel a flush rising in my cheeks rapidly. I turned my head and looked at the door. "Uh, the dogs were sleeping in the hall."

"Really?" Jack asked. "They usually sleep around, or sometimes on, the bed. Maybe they heard something, too," he frowned. He took a few steps towards me, then stopped. His mouth opened a little bit, and his eyes scanned up and down my body. Immediately, I felt self conscious. Should have grabbed that robe. "Ah," he breathed. In a sudden moment of panic, he exclaimed, "Ah, jeans. Jeans…. Where are my damn jeans?" He turned his back to me and searched. I giggled, then calmed myself when he turned around again. He looked very nervous and unsure. "Ah," he said, "let's go check out the house."


	12. An Unexpected Visitor

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I followed him down the halls, past doors, and into rooms. There was nothing there, but why would there be? I'd lied so that I had a good reason to be in his room in the middle of the night. But I panicked when I heard breaking glass. Immediately, I clung to Jack's arm from behind and peeked over his shoulder. "What was that?" I whimpered.

The dogs, who had been following us, suddenly all started barking and got in front of us, or rather, Jack.

"Stay behind me, yeah?" He pulled a pocket knife out and flicked open the tiny blade. Looking at it, he made a face.

"Come on, you used to be the Joker, and this is the only knife you have on you?" I scoffed, not caring if I hurt his feelings. Someone was in the house besides us. I'd just gotten lucky at making up that story.

"He's a completely different person," Jack said, clearly annoyed. "I was never the Joker, please understand that. He's not me, and I'm not him. Two completely different people just happen to share the same body."

"Okay, I'm sorry, but go! There's someone here," I whispered angrily.

"Right," Jack walked slowly towards the sound of the noise; the kitchen. He grabbed a butcher's knife from the wooden knife block and looked around. "Sit right there, on the counter," he whispered to me. "It's too dark in this corner for anyone to see you, but you can still see anyone who is in the room. Don't move."

I nodded as he walked away. He paused at the doorway to the kitchen and looked around. The dogs stood a little way behind him. I stifled a scream as someone tackled Jack to the ground. I did my best to keep quiet as Jack fought with a man in black in the middle of the kitchen floor. They'd both jumped up and were circling around each other.

"What the hell are you doing in my house," Jack yelled, exchanging blows with the man.

"Why the hell are you home?" the masked man said, a panic in his voice. "Someone told me the people who lived here were on damn vacation!" His voice cracked.

The dogs barked and bit at the man's legs.

Jack grabbed the man's head and pounded it into the island. The man groaned and lay motionless in the middle of the floor. "Now," Jack growled, "get out of my house or I'm calling the cops." The dogs growled and bared their teeth. They knew when their master was serious.

I looked up at Jack. He couldn't call the cops to this house and he knew it. This is where the Joker operated out of.

The man struggled to get to his feet and stumbled out the back door.

"Damn," Jack said, looking at the door. The glass had been broken in, but the lock remained intact. He closed the door with the deadbolt and locked it. "Why didn't I close this, it's the only night I've forgotten," he shook his head.

I jumped off of the counter and stood behind him. "It's okay. We're safe now. I'll clean up the glass in the morning. Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yes, just a headache now. He did get a few cracks in to my head. Nothing sleep can't fix. Come on."


	13. The Sleepover

"Sleep?" I squeaked. "What if someone comes back? What if they come through my window?"

"Your window is on the second floor," Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "I think you'll be fine."

"Well, they could come upstairs and not even have to go anywhere near your room. I could die and you wouldn't even know!" I honestly was scared now, although it wasn't like me. I'd always just imagined these things happening. They were never supposed to really happen, even in Gotham!

Jack scooped me up into his arms and carried me down the hall. "You're safe. He's gone. Just a dumb rookie."

I sighed and let my head rest on his shoulder. Closing my eyes, I listened to his steady breathing. In this moment, I barely remembered that this man was the Joker. When he set me down on a bed, I realized I hadn't been aware of him climbing the stairs. I opened my eyes and found myself in his black bedroom. Before I could speak, he said, "You'll sleep in here with me tonight." He put a finger to my lips. "I won't touch you, I swear. I just want you to feel safe. I know you're scared. Get comfortable. I'll be right back."

I couldn't help but feel excited, giddy, almost. The whole bed smelled like him, and was even more comfortable than my bed. That was probably because it'd been slept in, and mine had never been used. I buried myself in the covers and numerous pillows. Mmm. Jack.

The dogs jogged into the room and took up their spots. They glanced at me, but didn't totally seem to care.

Jack came in shortly after them. He kicked off his jeans and pulled back the covers. "Would you rather I slept on the floor? I will if you want me to,"

"No," I cut him off. "I want you right here." I reached over and pulled him down into the bed. "Just sleep closest to the door. If they come back, at least they'll have to go through you, first." I smiled weakly.

He smiled and pulled the covers over himself. "Good night." He lie with his back to me. I could tell he wasn't sleeping yet. A few minutes later, he rolled over to get comfortable, but found himself nose to nose with me.

Neither of us moved. I suddenly was very afraid. How was my breath? I wasn't even wearing any makeup! I tried to breathe less incase I had bad breath. Closing my eyes, I decided I'd let fate take over. I could feel him drawing closer to me. Our noses touched.

"No," Jack suddenly said, drawing back and shaking his head. "I won't. No."

"What?" I quietly asked, slightly offended that he was so taken aback at being close to me.

"You can't get involved with me like this." Jack closed his eyes and exhaled. "I'm sorry, Crystal."

"Jack," I softly said, propped myself up on my elbow, "what do you mean?

Jack shook his head and exhaled in dismay. This seemed to be a habit of his. "Crystal, sometimes, sometimes I'm not here with you. Sometimes it's the Joker. I can't risk you getting hurt. When I was the Joker and you were with me, you almost died. Twice! He told you to leave the first night you were here even tough he knew very well that those scientists would be searching the town. Crystal, I can only influence the Joker so much, and he's not a good man." He sat up in the bed. Biting his lip, he mumbled, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

I nodded. "Okay. I understand." Rolling over, I muttered, "Good night, then." The room was relatively quiet. The dogs' breathing was moderately quiet, as was Jack's. I subconsciously sighed.

"Crystal," Jack's voice came as he put his hand on my shoulder. "Please,"

"It's okay," I laughed, "I don't even know what you mean."

"Yes you do. Don't you go and try and think that I don't care about you," he said sternly.

This was the moment I realized how viciously ironic this all was. The Joker, the most hated villain in Gotham City, kidnapped me. More or less, I was forced to stay as a prisoner at his house. His alter-ego, Jack, became the main focus, and I'd found myself attracted to him. Attracted to him? Really? Yes, it must be. Bizarre, huh?

When I didn't say anything, Jack continued, still using a rather stern voice. "You know that I really do care for you. Yeah, sure, the Joker brought you here and I haven't been him for a long time, but," he stopped to think.

"You aren't the Joker, Jack, you aren't going to hurt me." I couldn't roll over. It'd be too awkward. I hated mushy moments. Hated them, hated them, hated them!

"I would never try to." His voice was softer, now. "You know that, right?"

I nodded towards the wall. "Of course. Good night."

I heard Jack sigh. "Good night." There was a hint of sadness and disappointment in his voice. Yet, he would never tell me that he'd wanted so badly to kiss me.


	14. The Invitation

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"You know what," Jack said one morning over breakfast as he chewed a mouthful of egg, "you haven't been out of the house in two months."

I cringed as bits of food fell out of his mouth. "I know. Well, this place is big enough and there's enough to do that I haven't really been bored." Tucking back into my oatmeal, I dropped the topic. It seemed strange that he had brought it up over breakfast. What was I supposed to do? They were out there looking for me. Then, something skidded across the table and clinked against my bowl.

"Take the Mustang. It's in the garage. Go out shopping or something, if you'd like. Girl stuff." Jack sipped his coffee and waited for me to reply.

"But, Jack, they'll grab me again. Besides, I don't have any money. I was trying to withdraw some the last time I was at the bank, but, oh yeah, I couldn't. Why was that? Oh yeah, you kidnapped me." I laughed. "Oh, excuse me." I sarcastically sat up and cleared my throat. "The Joker kidnapped me. Of course, of course. Besides, with all of Gotham looking for me, what am I supposed to say when someone recognizes me? Oh, hey! I'm just staying with the Joker for a while. No big deal, right?" I gave him a look and then looked back into my mushy oatmeal. I stirred it around, although still thinking about getting out. It would be nice.

"Just tell them you're just on the down low for a while. Avoiding a creepy ex boyfriend, or something. Maybe they'll put you on Oprah." Jack shrugged.

"Jack," I laughed, "They all saw me with you when the flower van crashed. They probably think I'm hurt, or your new sidekick or something. Whoever sees me will call the police and," I paused. "They'll call the police and the bad guys will come for me."

"You don't have to go out, I was just offering,"

"Well," I cut in, "I think I'll just go and see what it's like." I picked up the keys and played with them idle-mindedly. "Yeah, I'm going to." Standing up and pushing in my chair, I thought about how nice it'd be to shop again. After all, it was one of my favorite hobbies. Heels. Jewelry. Skirts. Dresses. Things that girls don't really need, but have in multiples. After putting my dish in the sink and promising myself I'd wash it later, I meant to run up to my room and get ready.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

I turned around and looked around. "Um, no?"

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a great wad of cash.

"Oh," I felt the corners of my mouth twitch. "Um, will I get in trouble for using this?" When Jack shook his head, I took the money. "Thanks. Are you sure, though? What if the police know this money is stolen, and,"

"You will be fine, I promise." Jack laughed and poured himself some more coffee. "Have fun."

So, I spent the rest of the morning, and the afternoon out shopping. I didn't have a care in the world, and felt normal again. No one seemed to recognize me. What a perfect day! Well, at least, until I got home.


	15. The Rooftop Tango

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After parking the car in the garage and typing in the security code, I wandered happily into the house, my shopping bags on my arms. By now it was evening and a little bit dark. How can a woman shop all afternoon, you ask? Easily. Ha!

"Hello, I'm home," I called, hanging the keys on a hook by the door. I waited for a response and didn't get one. "I'm home!" I called again. This time I smirked. Home. I subconsciously considered this my home. Cute. Sickening. Movie-like. Bleh.

I heard a crash from the kitchen. For a moment my heart stopped. Another robber. The man from the other night was back! Dancing back and forth on the spot, I debated where to go. Upstairs? Garage? Down the hall? Was there a closet nearby I could hide in? No, that was stupid. People who did that in movies got killed.

"Lucy, I'm home!"

I sighed in relief. "You frightened me, Jack. What was that sound? Did you break something?" Walking into the kitchen, I found glass shattered all over the floor. "Oh, our new door, Jack, what did," I looked up at Jack, but it wasn't him. "The Joker?" I shrieked. "Why? Why are you here? You've been Jack for so long, I actually thought I'd never see the Joker again,"

"Why not?" he cut in, licking his lips and raising an eyebrow. "You're saying you didn't," he licked his lips again, "miss me?"

"Why did you break the door?" I stood my ground and took a deep breath.

"It was locked and I didn't have a key, silly little thing. I didn't think you were here, so I, you know, let myself in." The Joker cackled his terrible laugh and stepped toward me.

"Where's Jack?" I drew back, trembling.

Weeks had gone by, and the Joker had remained absent. Why was he suddenly back? On top of that, he was covered in blood and wore an insane grin. All signs pointed in a bad direction, a direction that I preferred not to go. Looked like I didn't have a choice.

"What did you do?" I asked in fear.

"Well, my dear, my love, I just took care of a little problem. You should be thanking me. And I know just the way!" He licked his lips, then grabbed me around the waist. Jerking my body close to his, he whispered, "You're welcome. Now, begin the thanking, my beautiful little,"

I pushed him away. "Problem?" I gulped. "What problem,"

"No thanks? That's the last time I save your life!" He licked his lips and stared at me. "The problem that you needed me to take care of for you, of course! Surely you haven't forgotten that the only reason you're still here is because someone is out there, waiting for you to come out into the open so they can cut you up into pieces." The Joker shrugged. "Now there are only two men left looking for you. Not much of a team, now, is it?" He laughed and took a few bloody knives out of his pockets and rolled them onto the kitchen table. "Messy, messy, messy. What a messy business. Hey, be a doll and clean these up for me, would you?" He winked and walked from the room without another thought.

Staring at the knives, I felt a knot tie itself in my stomach. Did the Joker really kill the scientists, or had he gone after Batman? Had an innocent bystander gotten in the way? A true police officer? What if the Joker had confused the fake cops for Gordon? What if my mother was in Gotham, looking for me? Could this be her blood? Or, perhaps a child, or animal? Did the Joker awake whenever he needed blood? Is that why Jack was gone? Clearly, Jack was right. He was not the Joker, and the Joker was not Jack.

My face felt hot and my insides were twisting. This was the last straw. No more fun with the Joker. It was time to take care of him. I lunged at the table, grabbed one of the cleaner knives, and ran down the hallway, screaming, "Joker! Joker, come back here! Tell me who the hell you really killed!" My voice was unusually strong and loud. Heart pounding, eyes alert, hands steady. I screamed. "Joker! Joker, get back here!" So I stood behind the corner and waited for him to come across the hallway. It'd been a few minutes, when my anger had boiled over and I realized that a small, young girl such as myself wouldn't do very well in a knife fight with a full grown man.

"Well, then, our contestant has chosen the correct option! Good, good!" The Joker cackled from behind me. He'd been hiding this whole time

"Shut up," I spat through clenched teeth. "Who did you kill?"

"Three of those scientist cop types. You really shouldn't be so concerned, dear." He licked his lips and sat down in a wingback chair. "Shouldn't matter to you."

"Who were they? How do you know they were the ones after me? What if you've killed a police officer? What if he had a wife and children?" I was in near hysteria. "Everyone's got a mask, you do, my father does!"

"Well then, serves them right"! The Joker cackled in delight. He clapped his shrugged off his purple jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Putting his feet up, he happily said, "If you're going to wear the mask, we it all the time, or not at all."

"Don't say that," I whispered.

"The last time I checked, this was my house, and you are here for a reason I'm not quite sure of." He licked his lips and reached into his pants pocket. "Do not tell me that I can't say something. Don't you appreciate my company?"

I took a few steps back. He was going to kill me. "Really, Miss Thomas," he licked his lips, "I kill three men to save you and this is the thanks I receive?"

"I never asked you to kill to save me." I took a few more steps back, and found myself against the wall.

"Well then, what the hell do you want, girl?" He stood, crossed the room, and seized me by the wrists. He pulled me down the hallways as I struggled and screamed. He was taking me to the roof. When we got up there, he dragged me to the railing. He pulled out a knife, pointed it at my throat, and laughed. I was cornered.

"They way I see it, you've got a few options here. We'll see what you can create with them. I like being surprised." He nodded happily. "Now! Either you die by the knife, you die by," he looked over the edge of the railing, "a long fall with an unpleasant landing, or, you thank me like you should have done when I walked in the door." The blade moved a little bit closer to me.

"Okay, okay. Thank you," I squeaked.

"Tsk, tsk," the Joker said, shaking his head. "No, no, no. I think you know what the both of us want." He winked and licked his lips. "Now. Try that again."

"I'd never touch you!" I spat, trying to run for it.

He grabbed my shoulders and shook me slightly. "What did you say? What did you say?"

"I said I would never touch a monster like you!" I screamed, half in fear, half in anger.

"Get out!" The Joker screamed in my face. "Get out!"

I stared at him in amazement and confusion.

"Aren't you listening? Get out!" He shook me hard and scowled. "Get out of here! Leave me!"

Completely fearful, I ran back inside for the door, not even thinking to grab my shopping bags.


	16. Skinned Knees and Broken Heels

I ran down the street in a mad sprint. Naturally, I was in pumps. A heel snapped off and I fell to the ground, rolling a few times. My knees and palms were skinned. Sweat ran down my face. My breath was coming however it pleased.

"Miss, are you all right?" A man in a car had pulled over and was addressing me. "Miss?"

"Yes, yes!" I exclaimed in distress. "I'm fine! Thanks! Just a little clumsy!" I wiped the small rocks and dirt out of the small cuts on my hand. They had just finally healed from the windshield blow out. Shucks.

"You sound a little bit shook up. Are you trying to get somewhere?" The man leaned out of the window a bit, obviously concerned. "Can I give you a lift?"

"No," I said, shaking my head and managing a smile. "I'm fine. Just fine. Thank you, though." My teeth chattered.

The man nodded, waved, and drove off. Apparently, he hadn't recognized me. Perhaps I wasn't the amazing missing girl. I was an adult, I guess. Feds only made a big deal out of missing children.

I stood up and took a few deep breaths. My bloodied knees and hands stung, and my head was spinning. Had I upset the Joker that badly? It was true. I would never sleep with him. Jack on the other hand… no. They were the same man. Well, no, but they had the same body. So technically, wait, what? Sighing, I sat down on the curb to think. Where was I supposed to go? As if an answer to my question, a very fancy sports car pulled up in front of me. Another kidnapper? At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised.

"Miss," a man said as he got out of the car and walked around to me, "you look like a damsel in distress."

"Oh, do I?" I said, not bothering to look up. "Just unsure of where to go. My," I paused for a moment, "room mate kicked me out. I don't have anything on me, and I don't have anywhere to go."

"Sure you do!" The man said.

I looked up. It was the town's resident rich business man, Bruce Wayne. He seemed likable. He has dark brown eyes and brown hair. He had a friendly face. "Oh, and where is that? I'd rather not spend my night in a shelter, thanks." I cleared my throat and spit on my hand. He looked confused as I rubbed the blood off of my knees, but I didn't care. What a day. Like he even knew.

"You don't need to do that. Come on, you can stay at my place for tonight. We'll get you cleaned up, fed, and then you can figure out what to do tomorrow. Sound like a plan?" Bruce offered me a hand.

I grabbed it and stood. "Obviously, we've never met. I'm Crystal Thomas."

The man paused and stared at me for a moment, not releasing my hand. What should have creeped me out, really didn't. Finally, he snapped. "Bruce Wayne. It's fantastic to finally meet you."

"Finally?"

"Yes. All of Gotham has been looking for you. You escaped from the Joker, then?" He nodded enthusiastically. "That's what the police have been saying. Why didn't you go to police?"

"I just needed time." I shrugged and did my best to think up a story. "He's not that bad. That crazy man, you know, he just kidnapped me to ruffle everyone's feathers. That's what he told me. Don't worry about him."

"Don't worry about the Joker?" Bruce Wayne laughed. "I don't. That's what we have the police department for."

"Yeah, and Batman," I sarcastically laughed. This guy would never believe if I told him Batman was my supposed father.

Bruce gave a fake, short laugh and said, "Well, hop in the car. Let's go."

I gulped and got in the car. Now, to see how the heroes lived.


	17. Oh, Alfred

I arrived at the Wayne mansion about half an hour later.

"Alfred will surely fix you up anything you'd like to eat. He's my butler. You'll have to excuse me, though." Bruce patted his stomach. "I've just been out to eat with a few business clients." He pushed open the front door and gestured. "Wherever you want to go, go!" He winked. "This place is yours tonight. I'll actually be going out tonight, flying out, uh, on a flight."

"Where to?" I asked, only half-interested.

"Oh, um, Tokyo. You know. China's always a good place to go. Vacation. Yeah." Bruce stumbled over his words, but recovered with a smile.

"Yeah, sure," I said, raising an eyebrow. He must have just been drinking. "So the whole city has really been looking for me? I've been fine, I can assure you."

"Ah," Bruce said, clearing his throat. "They sure have. Hunting down that clown man and all. He's been very quiet lately, until today, wasn't it? Didn't he take out a few people this afternoon?" He casually leaned against the door frame.

"Don't know," I said, shrugging. "Haven't heard anything about it. Just had that fight with my room mate and now I'm here." I shrugged and smiled. My stomach twisted up at the mention of the Joker.

"Well," Bruce said, touching my shoulder, "make yourself right at home." He winked. "Alfred," he called.

"Yes, Master Wayne," and English man said as he walked into the room. "Ah, a guest. Shall you be needing anything, Miss?"

"Get our visitor whatever she'd like to eat, and then draw her a bath." Bruce smiled and glanced at me. "Take care of this young lady."

I smiled and waved as Alfred walked to the kitchen to prepare, whatever he had to. When I looked back, Bruce was staring at me.

"Yes?" I asked as politely as I could manage.

Bruce spoke softly. "You look just like your mother."

"How do you know my mother?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," Bruce said, his eyes opening wide and his jaw quickly snapping shut, "I, uh, used to know her. We went to school together."

"Sure," I said, nodding. "I didn't know that."

"Well," Bruce said, smiling and shaking my hand. "I'm off. Have a great time here."

Well, just as promised, Alfred took good care of me. I just had a pizza ordered in. (I could never do that at Jack's house, for fear of compromising the Joker's location.) Afterwards, I soaked in a huge bathtub. Although I couldn't help but wonder how many European models Mr. Wayne had had in there, I enjoyed myself. Once I was out, Alfred showed me to a room. I slept soundly, dreaming about laughing shopping bags full of lipstick.


	18. The Bump in the Night

In the middle of the night, there was a banging on my window. At first I figured it was just a bird, or bat, or the wind, or a tree branch, but then I came to my senses and realized that this was supposed to be the third floor. I peeked out through the blinds. Batman?

"Tell me where he is," Batman said in a raspy voice the moment I opened the window.

"What, I, tell you where who is?" I mumbled, very unawake at this point.

"The Joker. Surely you just escaped from him. You must be covering for him. Why?" The Batman, in his cape and mask, stared at me.

"Honestly. My roommate and I just had a fight and he threw me out. Don't let the press find me, okay? All right. Good. Bye, bye." I made to close the window, but he stopped me.

"We need to find this man. He killed three officers this afternoon."

I yawned. "Yeah, yeah. I can't help you. Honestly." I paused and, now, fully awake, actually looked at him. This was my father? A full grown man who ran around in tights and a mask? Great. If I could find who this man really was, without the mask, I'd have a thing or two to say to him. But while he was wearing the costume? Maybe not.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me." He turned to leave.

"Actually," I called, leaning out the window, "I don't."

"The bat signal."

"Of course, of course," I said, laughing. Turning to look at him, I found that he was gone.

When I woke in the morning, I found that there was a note on my bedside table. It was from Alfred. Breakfast was already prepared, and was on the table. He had some urgent family business to attend to, and Master Wayne was still in the oh-so-famous town of Tokyo, China. Whatever.

I wandered down to the dining room and found a variety of food upon the table. Something inside of me gnawed on my organs, but mostly my heart. This was exactly how dinner always was with Jack. He'd prepare a million things and I'd choose whatever I wanted. Frowning, I picked at some of the food, but mostly left it alone.

The rest of the day, I wandered the large mansion. There was a library, tons of guest rooms, an enormous kitchen… but it was all very empty and lonely. It was missing something. But what? Even if Bruce or Alfred had been here, it'd still have that feeling about it. I thought hard as I walked along the long hallways. I wasn't sure of what to do with myself, and I felt very lonely. It hit me. Jack. Jack was missing. That's why I was so miserable.

So maybe the Joker had come back, but it'd only been a day. Everyone has their little relapses now and then. What was I going to do? I couldn't stay here. That was it. Once someone got home, I was leaving!


	19. That Leaves No Choice

Bruce arrived mysteriously in the middle of the afternoon. Must have been a short stay in Tokyo, China. I'd been moping around the mansion for the entire morning, but had resigned to reading on the porch for the duration of the afternoon.

"Ah, Crystal, my girl," he said joyfully when he found me. "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

I gave a half smile. "Ah, I miss my room mate. She left me a text message. We've never gotten in a fight so big," I shrugged. Lying wasn't my thing, but hey, you've got to do what you've got to do. "I'm moving back in later today."

Bruce's face fell. "Oh."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "You wouldn't believe what happened in the middle of the night last night."

"Oh? Try me." He was strangely calm.

"Batman came and knocked on my window. I don't know how he knew I was there, but he asked me about the Joker. Did you tell anyone that I was staying here?" I asked, truly curious how he'd found me.

"What?" Bruce chuckled. "Only Alfred knew, and I mentioned it to Harvey Dent. He's very bent on catching the Joker." Shrugging and rolling his eyes, he said, "It's Gotham. What can you expect? Heroes and thieves are running crazy through the whole city. You never know who's around the next corner."

Half an hour later, I was ready to leave. "Well, thanks for having me, Mr. Wayne." I offered my hand as I stood by the door. Where was I going? Maybe I'd go back home. Maybe I'd go back to Jack's. Everything was still mulling over in my head.

"No, no, call me Bruce, and it wasn't a trouble at all. Anytime you need anything, you just give me a call." Instead of shaking my hand, he hugged me tightly. How awkward. When he released me, he quickly swatted a tear from his face and sniffled. "It was great to meet you. I'm glad you're safe."

"Thanks." I stared at the ground and played with the fringe on the rug with my foot. Don't make eye contact. Too awkward. Too strange. Wait for him to talk. Good girl, Crystal.

"Well," Bruce said casually, seeming to have calmed himself down, "I'm having a party tomorrow evening. If you'd like, you could drop by. It's a ball, sort of, so dress up. Well, you can actually come in whatever you'd like. It'd just be great if you came so the residents of Gotham can see that you're all right." He gave me a big grin.

"Of course I'll be there," I said, smiling. "Well, here I go!" I laughed and walked out the door.

It was just another bright, sunny day, just like the day I'd first been kidnapped by the Joker. That depressed me for some reason. I wanted to go back to Jack's, but it probably wasn't safe. The Joker was back, and he wanted blood. I decided to swing by my little house to see how it'd been holding up, neglected and uncared for, for the past few months.

When I arrived, I found the house in the same condition it had been in, except for the very long lawn. The door was still locked and all of the windows were in tact. I let myself in, with my guard completely down. What did I find? A complete, utter mess. Throw pillows were thrown about, and someone had slashed them. Papers lay shredded everywhere, my dining room table had a huge crack in it. The chairs lay in pieces on the floor. Tears flooded my eyes and I took in the terrible scene. My house was like my baby. I put a lot into decorating it. Everything had its place, and everything matched perfectly. Now? It was a complete mess. I reached down and found a picture of my mother and I. It was torn in half. I frowned. How symbolic. My home life was completely destroyed. There was nothing I could salvage. What did this mean? There was only one option: going back to Jack. I just hoped that I could find him.


	20. You've Come Home

**Ah!! So many readers! So many great reviews! I love you all. (Sorry if I misspell any of these. I sorta jotted them down in my terrible scribbly-cursive.)  
Thank you to everyone...Darkshadow008, Jokersgirl666, Magnetic Dust, Muu-chan, caitb94, phoenix12, iloveme5895. RecordxPlayer, Eriklefantome, angelofmusicx0, misslie, Salamara, sapphobrazil, Shaley Wiles, Devryn, Yonoka Takai, hestheonlyjoker, Anya Mencae, IllinoisRose, Ramla Okami, Herr Angel-D, DarkFoxPriestess, Kairi X Cataclysm, Mocha Coca Fan, watergoddesskasey.  
(And a note on the Tokyo, China thing... that was supposed to make it seem as Bruce wasn't ACTUALLY going on vacation. He needed to think of something... fast. And he made a mistake xD silly Bruce!)**

* * *

I took a deep breath and reached for the big brass doorknob. I was pacing on the porch of Jack's mansion. Of course I was going to go in, but how was I going to handle the situation? Polite? Angry? Upset? Thankful? I had no idea. I wasn't an actress, but I didn't have any idea what I was even feeling. Time to play it by ear.

After taking a very deep breath, I reached out and opened the door. Jack hadn't heard me. I found him in the living room with the dogs. He was reading the paper and had some sort of drink beside him. I cleared my throat and knocked a few times on the wall.

"Crystal," Jack exclaimed "Crystal." He dropped his newspaper and walked to me, staring at me in astonishment. "You came back." He stood before me, smiling and shaking his head. "I can't believe it's you."

With all of my force, I slapped him across the cheek. Words didn't need to be spoken. I just stared at him angrily. He looked hurt and surprised. He shouldn't have. He had this coming and deserved it one hundred percent.

"He hasn't come back," Jack said, looking down at the floor. "Not since the day you left."

"I didn't leave. You threw me out on the street after threatening to either kill or rape me."

"I didn't throw you out on the street, Crystal, it was the Joker and you know it. You know we're two different people. Don't act like you don't know that. Besides, it probably saved your life." Jack still looked at the floor.

"Saved me," I laughed sarcastically. "The Joker was going to stab me, drop me off of the roof, or was going to rape me. I refused all of them, made him angry, and he yelled at me and went into this rage and yelled at me to leave! Where did I go? Out on the streets, where the bad guys are trying to kidnap me and kill me. Do you really think they takes nights and weekends off?" By now I wasn't playing nice.

"That bastard," he whispered. Finally he looked up at me. Seeing how angry I was must have upset him. "What're you going to do, then? Leave again? Fine!" He turned to walk away. Waving his hand at me, he called over his shoulder, "Bye-bye, then. Good luck."

I grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and threw him up against the wall. He pulled my body up against his. How was I going to knock any sense into him like this?

"What do you want with me, Jack?" I spat through my teeth. "Do you want me to stay or go? Either way, I'll be fine. You know where I was? I was at Bruce Wayne's mansion. He took me in like a daughter. Why am I here, you may ask? Because I chose to leave. Unlike some people, he didn't throw me out!"

"Well then go to damn Bruce Wayne's house, then!" Jack half yelled. His face was pink and he didn't look happy at all. This was surely the alcohol. Jack would have never yelled at me as such, even when he was angry.

"I hate you," I whispered. My breath was heavy and fast.

"Then why did you come back? I never told you to come back." Jack growled. "You're not a prisoner. You do what you want. You came here by yourself." He stared at me with a scowl on his face. "Are you here to mock me? To rub this in my face?"

"Rub what in your face? The fact that the Joker almost killed me, or that, I, I don't know, what?" I shook my head in extreme confusion. "What am I trying to rub in your face?"

"You've been sleeping with the richest man in the city. What, did he pay you? How much?" Jack's lip was twitching. "Was he good, Crystal? I bet you kissed him because he didn't have ugly scars on his face like these!" He pointed as his scars and then stared at me. His chest was heaving.

"You never wanted to kiss me," I growled. "I truly, honestly, sincerely hate you," I spat, trying to pull away. "Let go of me!" I screamed, kicking at him childishly. Tears were forming in my eyes.

"Where are you going to go?" he yelled. "You're going to get yourself killed out there. Do you plan on walking to Wayne Manor? Are you going back to him?"

I couldn't help but give him credit. We fought like each other; we were both viciously sarcastic and nasty.

"Maybe I will," I said, trying to focus on his face. We were too close. I couldn't make out his features.

Then suddenly, in a moment of anger and confusion, we were passionately kissing. I dug my fingernails into his back. He held my waist too tightly. I couldn't help but think to myself that I couldn't even feel the scars at his mouth. We kissed each other hard, but it was somehow still pleasant. Anger. Lust. Passion. Realizing that I was still furious with him, I bit his lip and pulled away. "Get off of me!"

Jack's lip bled a little. "You're the one pinning me against the wall." He stared at me. The anger was leaving his face. He put his hand on the back of my head, pulled me in, and kissed me. When he pulled away, I heard him swallow and exhale. He was looking at the ground.

I backed away and leaned against the opposite wall. This was confusing. This wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't know what to think. Everything was confusing now, and nothing could ever be the way it was. Between shallow breaths, I muttered, "I hate you."

"Then leave." He looked up at me and took a deep breath. The sorrow just dripped from his face. "I said you're not a prisoner. Do what you want. Go to Wayne's. Go home. Go find your mother." He shrugged and walked away, towards his bedroom.

"I'm not following you in there," I called in frustration. "You want angry sex, but you're not getting anything!" I stomped my foot on the floor and pouted. At least, I hoped he wanted angry sex, because I sure did after what had just happened.


	21. Awkward Turtle

_Thanksss…… The.Clown.Prince.of.Crime, Campy117, BloodredCrimsonHands, Thetheif, Phantom-Roses, Lustfulkiller, salamara, watergoddesskasey, water-fairy7, MistahJsHarley, BriarRose24, Devryn, justafreak, Hermione, Magical Elf73_

I slept soundly in my designated room at Jack's place that night. That is, I slept after I sat up for an hour, waiting for and wishing that Jack would burst through the door and kiss me again. When I woke up, what I found was surprising. What was it? Nothing. There wasn't a sign that Jack had been in the room. He used to draw my blinds, leave notes on the table, breakfast, some fresh cut flowers, something, anything. But today? Nothing. Yikes. Jack must have still been upset with me. I slid out of bed and wandered to the closet, only to find all of my new clothing hung up. The bags I'd left behind! Jack had taken the time to hang everything and cut off the tags. Had he missed me while I was gone?

"Good morning," I bravely said in a cheerful voice as I found Jack reading the paper in the kitchen.

"Mmm." Jack didn't look up from the paper, but rather, took a sip of his coffee.

"How did you sleep?" I tried.

He shrugged.

After a few moments, "What're your plans for today?"

Another shrug.

"Jack!" I whined, walking over and pulling up a chair right next to him, "please talk to me. Why're you pouting? Stop. You aren't even good at it."

He let out a chuckle. "Sorry for last night," he sheepishly mumbled, still doing his best to avoid eye contact. "I shouldn't have yelled and I'm sorry for," he paused, "what I did."

"That's too bad," I cooed, putting a hand on his knee, "I'm not sorry at all. Well," I corrected myself, "maybe I am a little bit sorry for slapping you. But you did deserve it." Scenes from last night played in my head. Kissing. His body against mine. He had tasted sweet.

Jack choked on his coffee. "I, uh, that's great! I mean, I didn't deserve it, it was the Joker, I guess, but, well, I," he stopped and finally looked up at me.

"You're blushing," I said, feeling quite sassy. "What's the matter? Am I too good a kisser? You still thinking about last night?"

Jack looked up and grinned. "Yes. I am. We'll have to do that again some time when we aren't angry." He winked at me. Boy, he knew what he was doing! I didn't expect that answer. Now Jack wasn't the only one who was blushing. What an awkward moment.

"So," I said after clearing my throat, "I've been invited to a ball tonight." When I noticed Jack's look of confusion, I continued, "it's at Bruce's. He wants me to come, and I'm only assuming that that means I can bring a date."

"Oh, Bruce's," Jack said, his face falling. "Well, have fun, I guess."

"No, Jack, I want you to come with me! Will you be my date?" I gave a big smile, reached across the table, and put my hand on his. "It'd mean a lot to me. Wouldn't you feel terrible knowing that it's your fault that I would be going to a ball all by myself? How would the high class people look at me, all by myself?" I batted my eyes and pouted. "Besides, since you're my date, it's basically your duty to kiss me goodnight when the night is over."

Jack cracked a smile. "All right, it's settled. I'm going."

"Thank you," I cooed, kissing him on the cheek before running up to my room to pick out a dress. Score.


	22. How'd You Get Those Scars?

In a very poofy yellow dress, I felt like a million dollars. When I walked out into the living room and saw Jack waiting for me in his suit, I felt like a_ billion_ dollars. He cleaned up very well. How delicious!

Clearing my throat dramatically, I struck a pose and felt myself grow warm and pleased as Jack, complete with dropped jaw, gazed at me.

"You look beautiful," he immediately said, walking over and holding me around the waist. "You're always beautiful."

I was in the middle of wondering why he was being so sickeningly corny when he planted a sweet, gentle kiss on my lips. I was speechless. That was probably a good thing. I tended to babble when I was excited. Yeah, still do.

A pleasant car-ride later, we were at the Wayne Manor. Jack cleared his throat and brushed his hair back as we stepped onto the porch.

"Jack," I laughed, "you look fine. You're very handsome." I licked my thumb and wiped a little toothpaste off of his chin. "Oh, Jack. What would you do without me?"

He shrugged and licked his lips. "I really don't know." He offered his arm to me and stood up a little straighter. "Well, here we go, introducing ourselves to the high society of Gotham City." He opened the door and put on a smile.

A thought suddenly struck me. The scars. The scars! Everyone was going to recognize the scars! Someone was going to figure out that Jack was actually the Joker. A story. I needed a story. Uh, yes. Good. I had it. The first person who asked, I'd cut in and explain the story before Jack could say anything.

"Crystal!" a voice called across the room to me.

I turned around and waved. It was Bruce. I heard Jack clear his throat, and felt him stand up taller. How cute.

"You look stunningly beautiful. Truly a sight for sore eyes." Bruce chuckled and touched my shoulder."

"Hello, Bruce! Thank you." I laughed, shaking his hand daintily. "This is my date, Jack. Jack, Mr. Bruce Wayne. He took me in when my roommate threw me out after the fight."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Wayne," Jack said, shaking Bruce's hand and smiling warmly.

"Likewise," Bruce muttered, narrowing his eyes and staring at Jack's face. "Do I know you from somewhere? I can't help but think that we've met before."

Jack swallowed. A flush rose in his cheeks. "Ah, I," he put his hand over his mouth, as if he was thinking. He shook his head. "I don't believe so."

"How'd you get those scars, boy?" A man asked as he appeared behind Bruce.

"I," Jack froze. "Uh, uh, I,"

"He doesn't like to talk about it," I said, quickly stepping in front of Jack. "Jack, could you go get me some punch?"

Jack nodded and quickly left.

"Guys," I said, making sure to insert some sympathy into my voice, "a few years ago, Jack was in a bank the Joker and his gang was robbing. He tried to stand up for a pregnant woman the Joker was harassing, and got his lips cut. The only thing the Joker said to him was, 'Let's put a smile on that face.' He's very self-conscious about it. Please, just try and ignore it, okay? The woman didn't make and, and he hates when people ask him about the scars. They remind him of her, and, well," I shrugged and gave a small smile. "At least he's stopped having such terrible nightmares."

"Ah," the man said in surprise. "I've very sorry. Give him my apology." He wandered off and left Bruce and I standing there.

I glanced over my shoulder. Where was Jack?

"Well, I hate to leave you here by yourself. I'm sure your date will be right back. I can't be a bad host, though. I'm going to go mingle. Have a great time." Bruce walked off.

Jack was still missing. I looked through the crowd of people for him. Where could he have gone? Someone clapped me on the shoulder, causing me to jump.


	23. May I Cut In?

_Thanks to my beloved readers!  
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"Sorry, babe," Jack's voice came. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Babe? How sweet! I giggled. "Where were you?"

"I got distracted by some old friends by the punch." He handed me a glass. "I guess it's spiked, but it could be fun. I've never seen you drink." Suddenly, he twitched violently, then acted as if nothing had happened. Winking, he whispered in my ear, "Maybe we'll have a lot of fun tonight, if you know what I mean." He licked his lips and looked me up and down. "I could have a whole lot of fun."

"Jack," I said, surprised at his forwardness and his sudden twitch. "Stop that!" Had something just happened?

"You're fine, baby." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to where people where dancing. "Let's get it on." He licked his lips and stared at my breasts.

"Jack," I said, noticing people beginning to stare, "are you feeling all right? You're not acting like yourself tonight." I have a small, nervous laugh, hoping to cover up the drama.

Jack cleared his throat, gave his head a few good shakes, squeezed his eyes shut, then looked up at me. "I'm sorry, it's, well, I don't know what it is, but I'm sorry. I'm fine now. Would you do me the honor of sharing a dance with me?" He held out his hand and waited.

"Of course, Jack." I cautiously took his hand. What was going on with him tonight? It seemed like, no, it couldn't be. Had he just snapped and become the Joker there for a second?

It took me until the time we were in the middle of the floor to realize that I didn't know how to ballroom dance. That's what everyone was doing. Great. What a shock when Jack grabbed my hand and started to lead me around the floor.

"You can ballroom dance?" I asked in surprise.

"Of course, every gentleman should know." Jack smiled and continued to lead.

It'd been a few minutes of floating about the floor as if we were on some magical fairytale cloud when someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was a shame to be brought back to earth. I turned and found a man with greasy black hair standing, staring at me. I didn't like the look of him.

"Miss, may I have this dance? May I cut in?" the man leaned forward and reached out to take my hand.

I jerked my hand away and took a step towards Jack. "Actually, I think I'll just spend the night with my date. Thank you, though."

Jack's hand found its way to my waist. He held me protectively. "Maybe next time."

The man scowled. "Come on, just one dance. Have your date here get you some punch or something. Let the girl dance with someone else."

"She said no, now get out of here," Jack said, all the fun gone from his voice.

"I'm going to have to take care of you, aren't I?" the man growled, rolling up his sleeves. A few people around us stopped dancing to watch.

Jack quickly pushed me away gently. "Who are you and what do you want to do with her?"

"Boys!" the man suddenly yelled. Three men stepped out of the crowd and stood behind the greasy-haired man.

This wasn't going to be good, whatever was going to happen.

"What's going on?" Bruce called, rushing over to me.

"I don't know, that guy wanted to dance with me," I quickly said, pointing. "I said no, because, well, look at him! He freaked out and now I guess they want to fight Jack! Can you do something? Don't you have security guards?"

There was a loud grunt from behind me. I spun around in time to see the greasy-haired man get knocked off of his feet by a punch, delivered by Jack.

"Oh boy," Bruce said, backing up a few steps. "I'm, I'm, uh, calling the police!" He dashed up the stairs in a flash, knocking a wine glass out of an old woman's hand.

Jack turned to see what was going on. "Don't call the police!" he called after Bruce.

"Jack," I screamed as the remaining three men charged towards him. You'd think that by now I'd be used to stuff like this happening.

* * *


	24. Ladies and Gentlemen

_Thank you thank you thank you3  
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Jack got in a few punches, but was shortly overtaken by the three men. Nobody stepped in to help. The women in their dresses scurried to the back of the hall, while the men stood in their places, watching in interest.

"Jack!" I screamed after a minute of watching the men pound on him. "Get off of him! Leave him alone!" It was as if I was back at home, fighting with my older brother. I jumped onto one of the men's backs and started hitting him in the head and neck. My dress was awkward and heavy, almost to the point that it was going to slide down too far, but that didn't matter right now.

"Get that bitch off!" A man called, looking up from Jack. Taking the opportunity, Jack kicked him in the jaw. I heard a crack that just about made me sick. Seeing the man's newly broken jaw was so disgusting that I momentarily stopped hitting the man.

"Grab her and let's go," the man under me yelled. "Just grab her hands and let's get out of here!"

"The scientists!" I squealed. "Someone, please call the police! Call Batman! Call the Army! Someone help!" By now, I was clinging to the man's back, knowing that this was basically my only defense. If he couldn't grab me, he couldn't carry me off. Luckily for me, he didn't think to just walk away.

Finally, a few young men shoved through the crowd of older gentlemen and quickly threw the men off.

"Get off of him," a young man with a thick British accent spat, sharply kicking one of the henchmen in the ribs. "You stay away from my pal, got it?"

"Sure, sure!" The remaining scientists hopped to their feet and scrambled out the door. The man under me threw me off roughly and bolted. At long last, the crowd broke out into confused chatter. A group of old ladies surrounded Jack and began fussing with him, much to his

"Thank you," I said breathlessly from the floor. "Who are you?"

"Name's Dominic," the British man said, grabbing me under the arms and picking me up from behind. "Knew Jack when he was in high school. Foreign exchange student. I moved here. Anyway. You his date?"

I nodded and brushed off my dress.

"I haven't talked to him in years. No one could get a hold of him. No phone number, no address, nothing. It's like he dropped off of the face of the planet. Where'd you find him? Has he been in Gotham all this time?" Dominic stood with a hand on his chin, staring off into the distance.

How curious. Had Jack hidden himself from the world and let the Joker be the only one to leave the house? "We met at a bank a few months ago."

"Who were they?" a rough voice came from the top of the stairs. Our conversation came to a halt and a hush fell over the crowd. It was Batman, and he didn't look particularly happy.

"Batman," an older woman exclaimed, "you are late! Those men are already gone and this poor young man is laying on the floor bleeding. You're just no help at all. Where is Mr. Wayne?"

"He's the one who called me," Batman said. "Why were those men after you, Miss Thomas?"

"I," I paused. Was I supposed to tell Batman that my mother said he was my father? "I guess they want to experiment on me, or something, because of who my father was. Apparently he had good DNA."

Batman seemed to be at a loss for words. Aha. I had him. He really was my father and he knew it.

"I'll go after them. I assure you, your father doesn't have anything special in his DNA, Crystal. They're just looking to turn something good into something evil. They won't have any luck, but we won't let them find that out. All they'll find is themselves in a jail cell." He stared at me for a moment, then rushed off.

The crowd began chattering once again. A million questions were suddenly being thrown my way as I sat down on the floor next to Jack, who was sitting up and holding his head in his hands. The old ladies had retreated.

"Who is your father?" "Who were those men after you?" "What did your date do? Why were they after him?" "How does Batman know your name?" "Does Batman know your father?"

I ignored the questions and touched Jack's face. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I sort of forgot about those men being after me, and I didn't realize that,"

"It's fine," Jack interrupted. "Don't touch me. You'll get blood on your dress." He stood up. For the beating he'd endured, he didn't show anything for it except for a small scratch on his forehead. "You know what," he continued, shaking his head and raising his eyebrows, "I'm just going to head home early. I don't want you to have to miss out, so I'll send a car for you at midnight." He massaged his hand.

Dominic walked over. "Jack, Jack, Jackie boy. Where the hell have you been? It's been years. Everyone's been wondering about you."

"I've been home, just home. Had to get away for a little while." Jack looked at the floor sheepishly. "I guess I'm back now, though. How've you been?"

Dominic sighed. "Jack, where have you really been? It wasn't like you to just disappear and leave no trace behind." He paused and reached into his pocket. "Damn, I really have to take this call. Listen, you call me, or get in touch with me. I'm in the phone book. Nice meeting you, Crystal." He rushed off.

Shaking his head, Jack gave a small, fake laugh. "I'd better be going, too. Remember, car at midnight."

"No, Jack, I'll just come home with you. I'll clean and bandage you up. I don't think this is even going to be much of a party anymore after what just happened. Let me just tell Bruce that we're heading out. He'll understand." I turned to find Bruce and say goodbye to him, but Jack cut in.

"I'm sorry. I can't stay." He kissed me on the cheek and rushed towards the front door before I could respond.

Everyone watched in near silence as I stood with my hands on my hips, biting my lip, and wondering what to do next. Forget Mr. Wayne and forget Jack's car that was coming for me. I had to call my own cab and get home and take care of him.

"I'm sorry for ruining the party," I said sheepishly before sliding out the door.


	25. Who's Your Daddy?

"Oh, Crystal," a maniac voice called the moment I walked in the door.

I froze. It was the Joker. What betrayal! Either Jack had betrayed me, or the Joker had betrayed Jack. Most plausible? The second. This was definitely a problem. I couldn't run in this dress; it was too tight. The heels would probably break on me again, too. Kicking off my shoes, I called back, "Yes?" Maybe if I acted kind to him, he wouldn't hurt me.

"My darling, my dear, where are you? Come say hello to daddy!" The crazy laughter rang through the house, bouncing off the walls and echoing through every room.

"Well," I breathily called, "where's daddy?"

"I'm right here!" The Joker whispered in my ear.

I screamed in surprise. How had he gotten right behind me? My stomach turned over and over in horror. A tingle ran through my limbs and my breath left me completely.

"Ooh, scared. Here, let daddy protect you." The Joker swiftly grabbed my breasts and held me close from behind. "Ooh, I can feel your heart beating," he purred in my ear.

"Let me go," I whimpered, my jaw still trembling from the scare.

"Let you go, let you go?" The Joker exclaimed in glee. "Why, of course!" He released me. "Five second head start, then the fun begins!" He cackled.

Where was I supposed to go? He was in front of the door. I ran blinding through the house. Ah, the kitchen door! When I got there, I found the door was closed. My footsteps were heavy as I thudded through the house, searching for a weapon, or a way out. Maybe, just maybe, if I stalled long enough, the Joker would pass and Jack would come back to me. I turned a corner and stopped just in time to see the Joker standing, waiting for me, with duct tape in his hands. Slamming me against the wall, the Joker knocked me to the floor. A heard a loud rip. So much for my gown.

"Please," I half-screamed as I tried to crawl away. My body was numb from where I'd hit the wall. Before I knew exactly what had happened, he'd taped my hands together behind my back. There was no way I was getting out of this.

"Please," the Joker said, staring at me in mock-curiosity. "Please what? Please kill you? Please take you out to dinner and never call you back? Please see the error of my ways and give you over to those scientists?" Upon seeing me frantically shake my head, he laughed and said, "No, of course not. That would be cruel. I won't tell them, and I don't take you out to dinner. But killing you? That sounds fun!" He cackled. I saw his fist barreling towards my face, but didn't move soon enough. Once again, I was knocked unconscious and had no idea what was going to become of me.


	26. Don't Let Me Fall

A gloved hand was smacking my face repeatedly. "Time to get up, Crystal, time to wake up! Come on, sleepy-head!" The Joker chanted in a sing-song way. He grabbed a chunk of my hair and drug me into a small room. No, it wasn't a room. Where was I? My head was positively spinning. As soon as I felt the rush, I knew we were in an elevator, and we were going up, fast.

"Ah, elevator music," the Joker commented, licking his lips and giving my hair a little tug as if to make sure I was listening, "great music to listen to before someone dies." He sighed contently.

"No," I mumbled as he dragged me out of the elevator and into wherever we were.

"Ah, a chilly night out. Should have told you, my Darling, my sweet, and maybe you could have grabbed something to cover up those pretty little shoulders of yours, huh? That big poofy dress can't do much to keep you warm!" He cackled, grabbed me under the arms, and picked me up. He threw me up against a railing. A railing? We were on a roof. I stole a glance over my shoulder. Oh god. We were on the roof of a skyscraper.

The Joker released me for only a moment, then picked me up by my throat. "Oh, my love, my pet, my dear." He tilted his head to either side with every pet name. "My precious, my cupcake, my little live-in whore."

"Not your whore," I whispered.

"Of course, of course you aren't!" The Joker lifted me up a little bit higher. I had to give him credit. He must have been strong to have been able to hold me up like that. "But of course, I always knew that you were a sweet girl."

"What," I managed to spit out. The question didn't get finished, though, because the Joker's hands were squeezing my throat almost closed, now. "Please," I gasped, feeling my chest start to burn with the lack of oxygen. Panic was starting to set in. I couldn't breathe. I was going to die. Oxygen. Air. Please.

"Why, Crystal? And why, just why do you want me to let you down?" The Joker cackled and pressed a little harder on my throat. "If you can tell me in five words or more, I'll let you down, nice and safe, right here, on the floor, by me!" He gave a grin and waited for me. "I'm waiting!"

I wiggled my feet, almost expecting that it would somehow help me.

"What's the matter?" The Joker said mockingly, pulling me back over the ledge and setting my feet on the ground. His grip on my neck was still tight.

"Can't," I half-mouthed, half-wheezed, "breathe."

"Oh, you can't breathe? Why didn't you say something?" The Joker roughly threw me to the ground. As I whimpered and squirmed, trying desperately to free my hands and catch my breath, he watched and smirked. "Can I ask you a question? I just want to ask you a little question."

I nodded and frantically tried to catch my breath. "Sure. Okay. Anything."

"Why are people so nervous around me? I just try and spice things up. You know how people are nowadays. Boring. Dull. But you? Now you've really lived. What's life if you can't say you've been dangled off of a skyscraper before?" He gave a maniacal laugh.

"You're a monster," I managed.

"A monster, huh? I do wish you would stop calling me that." He picked me up by the front of my dress and swung me out over the ledge again.

I screamed and held onto his hand tightly. "Please don't drop me. Please don't let me fall. Please, please, please,"

"You know what, I think we should make a game out of this. What game do you want to play, Crystal?" He was positively beaming now.


	27. Let's Play a Game

_Guys, guys, guys. I am so super sorry for going on that hiatus. It was completely unintentional. I'm done with my first term of high school, but activities have picked up and I only have Fridays and Saturdays to myself, but I tend to have to squeeze everything into those days and there isn't any time left for writing! I apologize a zillion times. It sucks when authors disappear and stories remain unfinished. Here you are, lovelies :_

He was holding me by the front of my dress over the ledge of a skyscraper. His grip was loosening, and my life was flashing before my eyes.

"What game do you want to play, Crystal?" the Joker repeated, giving me a little shake.

Sobs spilled out of me. "Let me live," I got out between sobs. "Don't drop me. I don't want to die. Please,"

"Hmm," he said, making a face and acting like he was thinking. "I can't remember ever playing a game called I Don't Want to Die.' Want to explain the rules to me so that we can play?"

My lip trembled. "You pull me back over the edge."

For once, I saw the smile wipe clear off of his face, but in a moment, it was back, but wider than I'd ever seen. The Joker leaned in and whispered, "Oops," right to my face before releasing me.

I heard his laugh as I tumbled through the air, falling story after story, gaining speed as I fell towards the concrete below. I didn't scream. I didn't cry out. I only wished that I could have seen my mother, friends, and even Jack one last time before I died. Squeezing my eyes shut, I hoped to eliminate any way of knowing when I was going to hit. I wanted it to be over. Instant. Painless. Just get this over with.

I hit sideways. My ribs smashed into something solid. I was dead.

Wait. If I was dead, why could I still feel? I could feel a breeze, and the chill of the night, and something warm around my middle. I opened an eye a tad. Black, but not the sky. Black material?

"Hold onto me," a rough voice came.

Now, I finally screamed. It took a moment for me to comprehend what had just happened. Of course, the hero of Gotham. Batman had appeared out of thin air, dove after me, and scooped me out of mid-air drop. I clung to him and watched as he pulled out a gun. He shot a hook to the top of a building. It caught, and we swung safely through a window, breaking the glass and landing amidst it on the carpet of the small office building.

"That man tried to kill you. Whoever the Joker is obviously doesn't care about you and isn't looking out for you. You're with the man behind the makeup. That's the only way things like this could keep happening. You were at the ball earlier," Batman said, nodding towards my dress. "Your date. He's the Joker, isn't he?"

"No," I whispered. "He's not." It was the truth. Jack wasn't the Joker. Jack loved me. I just knew he did.I got up, shook the glass out of my dress, and walked to the window. It was a very beautiful sight, but the beauty was marred by the fact that the man I thought I loved was no where in sight.

"Crystal, come away from there. I'm taking you somewhere safe where he can't find you." Batman took me by the arm and tugged me towards the door of the office.

"I can't. I need to find Jack!"

Batman stopped and violently turned around. "You aren't going to have anything to do with him. Your date, that man, Jack; he's the Joker and you know it as well as I. I just don't know why you're choosing to ignore the fact. Gordon and I have decided to place you in a secretive safe house; somewhere where no one knows where you are but us."

"You can't tell me what to do!" I cried indignantly. "I'm not going into hiding. I'll be fine!"

"Half a minute ago you almost died!" When I said nothing, he continued. "Your mother told me to look after you while you were here." He took a deep breath. "That's the only reason she felt it was okay for her to move out of the city."

"So," I said, looking up at him. "You are my father?"

Batman nodded. "You're going into hiding."


	28. My Own Prison

The walls of my room were very white. As a matter of fact, everything in this house was very white. Heck. You couldn't even call it a house. My new residence was a two-room prison. My new life as a prisoner was nothing short of hell for me. Batman was going after the Joker, and if he didn't find him, he was going after my Jack.

I sat for a week in that house, with numerous visits from Gordon, Batman, my mother, and a few police officers. After much debate between us, the GCPD finally set out to find the scientists who wanted my DNA, even though I know they didn't totally believe my story. Within that week, though, they'd arrested the rest of them. They were surprised to find that they really existed. But I was safe, they said, safe from the scientists, and now Jack didn't need to protect me. As a matter of fact, they said, I didn't need to see him ever again, because there was no trace of the Joker or of Jack left in Gotham City.

I stayed in the house for a month and wasn't allowed to leave, just incase the Joker was watching the city for me. Depression set in. I slept a lot. Life was meaningless. Meaningless until I turned on the news one Friday evening at six o'clock.

"Young businessman Jack Napier has been taken into custody this afternoon outside of his Gotham City home. Napier is the main suspect in connection with the Joker and all of his crimes," the happy little news anchor woman chirped. "The Joker has been wanted for many months with counts of robbery, breaking and entering, first-degree manslaughter,"

I couldn't listen to this. I didn't want to listen to this. I dropped my bowl of Ramen Noodles and leaned forward towards the television. My jaw dropped.

Footage played of the police hitting Jack with their night sticks and dragging him across the driveway to police cars. His dogs were in the fenced in yard, barking and growling. I gasped in horror as a cop turned and fire a shot into the yard.

The cameras pressed in once Jack was in the cop car. He was bleeding, and looked confused. "Help me!" He yelled. "I'm not who you're looking for."

The news woman laughed. "Like we're going to believe that when you've got those scars."

I ran about the room, grabbing my purse and cell phone. Who could I call? I didn't have a car. It didn't matter. I would just run to the police station. I met someone at the door in my mad sprint out of it.

"You aren't going to see him," Batman said as he caught me by the shoulders. "We knew this would happen, so we came up with a new solution. You are going to stay with your mother. She's on her way to pick you up now. I'm taking you to the airport. You're leaving Gotham and you will finally be safe."

"No!" I squealed. I slipped away from him and sprinted down the street. Of course I knew that I couldn't outrun him. I just hoped that he'd let his daughter learn for herself what was the right thing to do as opposed to the wrong.


	29. Dumpster Diving

_Can't apologize enough for the long break. I agree that I suck :] haha. I hope all of my faithful readers are still… reading. I'll do my very best to write more and wrap this thing up. :]_

That's it. I'd lost it.  
I had to have lost my mind. This was never going to work. The evening had gone so fast that I wasn't even fully aware of the events.  
Let's see. I'd managed to get away from my father, who probably knew exactly what I was doing at every moment anyway. I'd managed to retrieve my car from behind the police station, returned to my old house, picked up as much as I could and tossed it into the trunk, and was now sitting in a dumpster outside of the police station. I was wearing all black, had a stocking cap pulled low, and black eyeliner smeared under my eyes for dramatic effect.  
Like I said; I'd lost it. I was waiting for a brilliant plan to come to me. I was waiting for a moment to come in which I could sneak into the station, up to the holding area, somehow grab Jack, and then somehow escape.  
Things were looking bleak.  
That is, things were looking bleak until I heard a car pull up and a door slam. I watched in half-amusement, half-shock as Dominic, Jack's old friend whom I'd met at Bruce's ball, crept stealthily toward the dumpster. I scooted over just as he vaulted himself in.  
"Hi," I chirped.  
He jumped violently. I didn't blame him, though. Who would expect to meet someone in a dumpster?  
"It's Crystal, remember? Jack's girl? Don't worry. I think we're here for the same reason."  
"Bloody hell," he spat, "I thought I was damn mad for hiding in a dumpster, thinking up some plan to fetch Jack out of there."  
"So you don't have one either?" I moaned.  
"I'll think of something, I will," he said.  
A loud chorus of sirens interrupted him. We peeked out of the dumpster as a fleet of police cars sped out onto the streets.  
"Now!" we both whispered, jumping out of the box and running towards the doors.  
"So you know where the holding area is?" I whispered as we sprinted through the seemingly empty building.  
"Of course I know where it is. Listen, every jail in every big city is laid out the same. Just follow me." Dominic disappeared around a corner and up a flight of stairs.

"Jack," I exclaimed as we burst through the door not five minutes later.  
He was sitting in his cell with his head hung. His shoulders were slouched, and he looked positively depressed.  
"Jack, oh, Jack. I saw you on the news and it was so horrible and I'm so sorry, and," I squealed as I skipped over to the cell. I clung to the bars and beamed at him. "Jack, we're here to get you out!"  
"We don't exactly have the time for conversation," Dom hissed as he searched around the floor for the keys. He miraculously found one right away, rushed over, and opened the jail cell.  
Jack didn't move. Not a word spilled from his lips. Not a muscle moved.  
"Jack, you dumb Yank, come on. We're busting our asses here for you and you're just going to sit there?" Dom stormed into the cell, grabbed Jack's arm, and roughly pulled him to his feet. "What's wrong with you? Let's get out of here!"  
"Jack?" I said, leaning forward and tipping his face up.  
Even Dom gasped.


	30. Home Sweet Home

The face staring up at us sheepishly was a face that neither Dom nor I had ever seen before.

"I can't believe it," the man said, laughing. "I can't believe you actually showed up. He said a British guy and a pretty girl would be here, and here you are."

"Jack, that rat," Dom spat. "We risked getting ourselves arrested to save him, and he knew we were bound to come, and he leaves and puts some hobo in his place?"

"I'm not a hobo," the man spat indignantly. "I happen to currently be unemployed and homeless. You know," he scrunched up his face as he picked at his dirty fingernails, "just happen to be between jobs."

"We don't care," I blurted out. "We do not care about you. We need you," I sarcastically gestured, "to tell us where the man went."

"Well, you don't have to be a grouch about it! He just said he was going home. I told him not to do it. It's the first place the police are going to look, the very first place."

I didn't hear the rest of his babbling. I was already headed down the staircase with Dominic hot on my heels.

"Meet me back at Jack's," Dom said frantically as he got into his car.

I nodded and did the same.

My mind raced the entire drive to Jack's place. Why on earth was he going back to his house? Dom arrived before I did, and instructed me to wait in my car until he signaled that it was safe.

I didn't listen.

"Oh my," I breathily said as I cautiously peeked into the house.

"Crystal, I told you to wait, I, ah, too late," he stammered. Wrapping an arm around me, he softly said, "Don't worry about it, don't think a thing of it, Crystal." He shook his head. "He's not here."

I pushed his arm away and took a few steps into the kitchen. China lay in pieces all over the floor. Chairs were overturned. Something that looked like blood seemed to be everywhere; on the carpet, on the counter, smeared on the wall in a handprint.

"Dom," I said softly as I reached behind me. I latched onto what I thought was his sleeve. "I think he's still here."

"No, come on, why would he hang around here," Dom shrugged, grabbing my forearm and pulling me away. "Let's just go. We'll figure out our next move. We can't stay here. Obviously, something, dare I say, bad, happened here, Crystal!"

But I was already halfway down the hallway. Jack was still here. I knew he was.

"Crystal, we really need to go!" Dom called from the kitchen. He sounded panicked. "Crys," and then his voice suddenly stopped.

I paused and called over my shoulder, "Dominic, is everything okay? Are you all right?" No answer came. "Dom?" I called a little more frantically. "Dom!" I turned and ran back toward the kitchen. Nothing. Dom was gone. "Dom, Dom?" I frantically ran outside. Both of our cars were still there; however, they were on fire. My jaw dropped and I took a few more steps. On the ground was a folded piece of white paper with my name scrawled across it. A rock acted as its paperweight.

I bent down and snatched up the note. My heart dropped as I read.

_Crystal Thomas:  
We know where you are and we know who you have been relying on for protection. We now have both of your friends. If you want to see them alive again, you will come to the Millar Warehouse tonight at seven o'clock sharp. Come alone, or they both die. We're watching you, Crystal Thomas._

The scientists were still after me. They knew where I was. They were watching me. They took Jack, they took Dominic, and they set my car on fire. They were in complete control of my life.


	31. It's You

I was sitting on the couch all alone in the middle of the empty, bloody house. I bit my lip and stared at my hands. How was I supposed to get to the Millar Warehouse with no car and no money? It wasn't plausible to call a cab here. The place would be investigated and that would just slow me down. That's the first thing a cab driver would notice: two burnt skeletons of cars. That'd be pretty suspicious if you ask me, and I doubted if I could get away with saying a spilled a little red kool-aid… all over the entire first floor.

Squeezing my eyes tight and rubbing my face with my hands, I thought as hard as I could. I tried desperately to come up with a way to get to the warehouse.

I jumped violently as I heard a loud bang coming from the kitchen.

"Crystal! Crystal, where are you?" a man's voice came. It was filled with worry and urgency. Yet this wasn't Jack's voice, nor was it Dominic's. Who else could it have been?

I slowly got up off of the couch and crept to the doorway. I peeked around the corner. A man in a suit was standing in the middle of the kitchen with his hands on the back of his head. His back was to me, but I could hear him muttering to himself under his breath.

"Crystal," he called again, turning back around. It was Bruce Wayne.

I stepped out from behind the corner. "What're you doing here?"

"You're alive," Bruce exclaimed as he rushed over and hugged me.

Even in the current situation, I felt strange. What business did Bruce Wayne have in looking for me? Better yet, how did he know that I had been here? Was he watching me, too?

Bruce released me and stepped back, examining me. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? You look okay. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I said hesitantly. "Why are you here?"

"Crystal, look, I know everything. I know you've been here with this Jack Napier man. I know that he's got some sort of connection with the Joker. I don't know what it is, but I know it's there. I know about the team of scientists after you, I know that they somehow infiltrated the police department, and I know that the Joker slaughtered a good number of them. Didn't you notice that the news didn't say a word about the Joker killing them?"

"No one would want to know that someone could kill cops, whether we knew they were bad cops or not, that's why it wasn't publicized," I tried. "It'll just make the public doubt the law enforcement."

"No, Crystal, no!" Bruce said. "We left it alone because we figured out that those guys, those scientists, were posing as cops. It took us until they were dead to find that out. How did we find out? The Joker helped us. The Joker was helping us to protect you. Gordon and I couldn't figure out how, and we didn't know why, but we figured that if he knew something we didn't know, we had to let him go about whatever he was doing, undisturbed. We didn't want the public panicking and thinking the Joker was on a random killing spree. For once, he had a mission. He was protecting you. Why, Crystal, why?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know why the Joker was protecting me. He's crazy and he never makes much sense. He's tried to kill me, he's got a short temper and is very moody, and I just don't know. How do you know all of this? What's going on, Mr. Wayne?"

Laughing softly, Bruce covered his eyes with his hand for a moment. "I never thought you'd find out. I never wanted anyone to find out."

"Find out what?" I said, taking a small step backward.

"Crystal," Bruce said, letting his arms drop to his sides, "I'm your father."

"You're Batman?" I replied in surprise.

"I said I was your father," Bruce replied, also surprised.

"Mom always told me that Batman was my father. She never said it was you. Are you really,"

"Yes," he responded quickly. "I am. As you know, it's a secret. No one can know. Gotham's safety depends on that. But you'll be a prime target if anyone finds out you're a Wayne. You could be kidnapped, or,"

"I think this is worse! Somehow those crazy scientists found out that I'm Batman's daughter and now they want my DNA so they can make an anti-Batman, or something! Can you please just not worry about that?" I found myself quite frustrated. Didn't he realize there was blood everywhere, and that I didn't know where Jack or Dom were?

"I'm sorry." He paused. "We've got to get you out of here."

"No," I said, taking a step back for good measure. "I need to get to the Millar Warehouse. The scientists want to meet me there. That's the only way that Jack and Dom will be safe. I don't even know where they are right now."

Bruce sighed. "Okay. Batman will meet you there in,"

"No!" I cut in. "Batman can't help in this situation. I've got to do it myself."

His eyebrows raised in shock, Bruce replied, "You'll be killed. Batman will be there."

"I'm not going to take any chances. You can, I don't know, wait outside or something. I won't risk having two good men killed." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

Bruce nodded. "I understand. Just be careful."


	32. The GreenEyed Man

Bruce dropped me off a block away from the warehouse. I felt out of breath the minute I began walking towards the massive building. My heart was pounding. My chest was heaving. My hands were shaking. My mind was racing. I had no idea what to expect. Could I be in danger? Probably. Could the scientists just be luring me into a trap? Probably. Could Jack and Dom already be dead? Probably. Yet, if there was even a five percent chance that they were still alive and that I could save them, I would do it.

"Hello?" I called as I walked through an open door.

The inside of the building was disgusting. Cobwebs hung here and there, empty cardboard boxes stood in towers, and rats scurried away from me. No one seemed to be there. The sound of the door slamming shut jarred me from my observing.

"Hello?" I frantically called out.

"You came alone. How very, very clever of you." A low, growling voice echoed. The sound bounced all around the empty building and struck me from every direction.

I spun around, looking for the speaker. "What do you want? I'm here."

"Because I told you to be!" the voice hissed in my ear.

I screamed and tried to run, but a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around my middle. "No, no, no, you are going to stay right here and tell me what I want to know." The man dragged me across the floor to a solitary chair as I struggled and fought. "Sit right here," the man growled, slamming me down in the chair and quickly throwing rope around me.

"No knots! No rope! I won't tell you anything!" I screamed.

The man paused. "No rope? How am I supposed to know that you won't run off if I don't tie you to this chair?"  
For the first time, I got a good view of the man. I'd expected him to be ugly. Aren't most villains? But, no. He was tall and dark, with green eyes and a head of black hair.

"How will you know?" I repeated. "I came here. I met you here. I didn't have to, you know, and I don't want my friends to die. I'll do whatever it takes to help them to live." An idea struck me. "You want my DNA, isn't that correct?"

The man narrowed his eyes and straightened himself. He tossed the rope aside, and thoughtfully stared at me. "You know this how?"

"Some of your team, the fake police officers, they let it slip the first time you sent for me. They picked me up in the police car and they were talking about what they wanted me for."

The man scowled. "Of course. Hired help. What did they say?"

This was suddenly much easier than I thought it'd be. Given, I was terrified half to death, but it wasn't so hard. "One of them hit me in the face, and I started bleeding. The other guy told him not to contaminate my blood, because you wanted my DNA for testing, or cloning, or something."

"And do you know why we want your DNA?"

I nodded. "I'm Batman's daughter."

"Yes. You are the Batman's daughter." The man smirked.

I swiftly reached up and tugged out a small clump of hair. "Here. Take it. Here's your DNA. I'm giving it to you freely. You don't have to take it from me. Why didn't you just ask?"

The man made a face of disgust, disbelief, and confusion, but still reached out and took the hair.

"There's DNA in the roots. It's my DNA. You can clone it; do whatever you need to do to make your anti-Batman. Go ahead. Now please, tell me where my friends are." I leaned forward in anticipation.

The man, laughing, tucked the hair into his coat pocket before spinning my chair around. A TV on a stand had been wheeled in from somewhere. He flipped it on and walked a few feet away.

A tape began to play. Jack and Dom were sitting side by side in two chairs. They both had gags in, and were bound to the chairs. Jack looked alert and awake, but Dom looked like he was barely conscious. A man wearing a ski mask walked by and removed the gags, and walked away.

"Crystal," Jack spat after taking a few breaths. He spoke very fast. "Crystal, don't believe anything any of these guys tell you. Don't come to save us. Don't put yourself in danger! They're lying, they're lying, Crystal, they're going to try and get you to save us, then they're going to blow up," before he could finish, the man who'd removed his gag ran back over and struck him in the back of the head.

"If you're seeing this, run now," Dom weakly mumbled.

That was enough. I jumped up out of the chair, but the green-eyed man threw me back down into the chair.

"What's wrong, you come here demanding to know about your friends, and now you don't even want to see what they have to say?"

"No," I hoarsely spat as the man smirked at me.

"Just take a look at the screen!" His smirk grew wider as he replayed the message over and over again.

I watched as Jack stared into the camera and spoke. The man pummeled him over and over, and Dom struggled to lift his head and speak time after time. Suddenly, I began to realize something. I recognized the background. I knew where they were.


	33. Star of the Show

The man finally stopped replaying the video. He knelt down to my level. "So, you give me some hair and tell me that I have your DNA." He shook his head in a sarcastic sadness. "Poor little thing, you don't realize something very important. You are the Batman's daughter. You're very interesting to us. You have are the stuff that makes up Batman. You're what every bad guy wants. You're like the secret weapon just waiting to be unleashed. It'd be foolish of me to just let you go."

I sat frozen in my chair.

"Luckily for me," the man said, standing back up and pacing back and forth, "I've got you right here, and you've got no where to go." He turned and smiled. "I sincerely apologize. I haven't even introduced myself. Doctor Alec Surtoff, and you are Miss Crystal Thomas, the star of the evening."

Boxes were sent flying in every direction as a large black vehicle crashed through the door, and took out much of the wall surrounding it.

The green-eyed man snarled and glared at me. In a swift motion, he'd grabbed me by the hair and began pulling me backwards. I screamed in pain and clawed at his arms.

The Batmobile rumbled up and my father leapt out. "Let the girl go, Surtoff. You've got me. You don't need her. Why take the key to the padlock when you've got the contents of the safe?"

Cold steel on my neck sent a chill down my spine. The knife wasn't there for long. Batman ran towards the doctor. Surtoff released me and I scurried away. Batman pinned the man to the floor and clocked him in the face. "Crystal, go to the police!"

"I will!" I cried over my shoulder as I dashed over to the television. I quickly grabbed the tape from the VCR and stuffed it into my jacket. "Where will you be, Father?"

Batman called back, "I don't know. I'll find you. Just go!"

* * *

"The university is in danger!" I cried the moment I burst through the police station doors. "The men on your squad who you found out weren't really cops when they died, well, the rest of their team are planning to blow up the university." I held up the tape. "This is them. This proves it. We have to get everyone out of there," I was speaking a mile a minute, "and Jack Napier and our friend Dominic are being held hostage in the basement of one of the buildings. I don't know which one, but they are. Here's the tape."

"What're you talking about, girlie?" The receptionist asked. "The university isn't in any danger. What's going on?"

"Please, just evacuate the university and get someone in there to look for Jack and Dom!" Didn't she believe me? I thrust the tape at her. "Have the Chief watch this."

"Have me watch what?" the Chief asked as he walked by with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Please, just watch this. A group of men are holding two of my friends hostage in the basement of the university. They want my DNA because they think, well, never mind," I struggled, "but they're saying that either I surrender myself to be killed, or they blow up the university. They're the ones who infiltrated your staff."

He dropped his coffee and reached for the tape. "What?" Gordon slowly said.

"Here," I said, fumbling with the tape before finally getting it to his hands. "Watch this, and you'll see that it's the basement of one of the buildings on campus. I don't know which one, but I know that's a building on university campus. I went there, and that's definitely where it is. Please, watch the video and get everyone out of there. We only have two hours left."

Gordon nodded seriously, looked at the tape in his hands, and hurried down the hallway.

Five minutes later, the whole city was on high alert.


	34. There She Blows!

Police cars swarmed through the city, all eventually ending up at the university. Ambulances and fire trucks came next, their high-pitched wailing deafening and annoying.

I'd ridden over with Gordon. He told me that he knew Batman was my father, and he knew all about the scientists' plot to use my DNA. He'd made me swear that I'd stay back, far away from the buildings and I had nodded, knowing very well that my fingers were crossed behind my back.

A small group of what I assumed to be neighbors was gathered in the middle of the street on a hill overlooking the university. I joined them, at least, for now. Did Gordon really believe that I was going to sit back here idle while Jack and Dom were tied up in danger?

"Honey, we're so glad you got out. We saw lots and lots of kids coming out of those dorms. We reckon that's about all of them. They're all gathered on the other side of the campus," an older woman said. "We heard there's a bomb threat that's been made towards the college. Is that right? Even if there's not, it's better safe than sorry, I always say."

I shook my head. "I'm not a student there, but yes, that's what I've heard, too. Bomb threat." I tried to keep my head down and face hidden. The last thing I wanted was for someone to recognize me as they girl who'd been with the Joker.

"Look, look!" the woman cried, her old voice warbling unsteadily. A wrinkled arm pointed down to the campus. "Smoke! There's smoke."

An unease settled over anyone. Maybe there would just be a fire. A plain old fire would be good. Well, maybe not good, but better than explosions.

I meant to turn away. I meant to close my eyes. I meant to cover my face with my hands. None of it happened, though, and I watched in horror as the building which had slowly been leaking smoke, suddenly burst. Bricks flew in every direction. Large orange flames exploded outward and engulfed everything in their path. Large black clouds of smoke crawled upward into the sky.  
The crowd that had slowly grown larger now let out a horrified, unison gasp. Individual screams followed. Women began sobbing. Men swore. I just stood in the middle of it, completely in shock.

"There were still students in there! They were just kids living there," a middle-aged woman near me sobbed as she shook me by the shoulders.

I barely heard her. I was staring dumbly at the clouds of flame and smoke.

Suddenly, three loud booms signaled three more buildings exploding. The crowd screamed and cried even harder, and I stood there motionless as ever before. My body was numb. All I could think about was the fact that Jack and Dominic were in one of those buildings, had been in one of those buildings. I don't know when I started running, but I suddenly found myself sprinting down the hill towards the inferno.

I ran past one of the flaming buildings. A few officers yelled at me to get back, but the rest of them were too concerned with other things to notice me.

One massive explosion, or maybe it was a series of explosions, shook the ground, knocked me off of my feet, and blew up the remaining five buildings. I barely had time to roll over and cover my face as bricks and other debris rained down around me. Luckily, nothing heavy hit me. I hopped to my feet and peered through the smoke. No one was walking out from the piles of building. Everything was burning.

* * *

Time had passed, but I didn't know how much. Everything seemed to be happening so quickly; I didn't have any time to react to anything, yet everything had suddenly been flipped to slow-motion. I walked through the parking lot, where stretchers were being rolled to ambulances. Occupied body bags were laid side-by-side on a grassy lawn. The sight almost made me sick. Sorrow-filled cries and joyful shouts filled the air as relatives found out about their loved ones.

"Crystal," a soft voice came. "Crystal, is that you?"

I spun around to find the voice. It was Dominic, and he was being wheeled by on a stretcher a few yards away. The white sheets beneath him were stained red.

"Dom," I cried, running over to him.

The paramedic saw me and quickly said, "He's stable, could you just stay with him for a moment? We've got someone else who needs us back there."

I nodded and swallowed hard. The medic ran back, and I looked down at Dom. His face was covered in blood, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. Blood slowly trickled from his bottom lip, which was split open in numerous places. His hands were covered in cuts and burns, and his clothing was singed.

"Oh Dom," I said, wanting to reach out and grab his hand to comfort him. I couldn't. "Are you going to be okay?"

He nodded slightly. "Crystal," he softly said, "it's Jack." He coughed, then grimaced.

I sharply inhaled. "Is he okay?" My heart stopped beating and waited for the response.

His eyes locked on mine. "I'm so sorry," he replied before his lids closed and he fell into unconsciousness.


	35. A Building Panic

The paramedic passed by me and pushed Dom's stretcher away to the line of ambulances. People were still running, crying, sobbing, screaming. Smoke and the smell of burning wood filled the air. Ashes rained down here and there. The fire died down as the buildings burned to the ground.

So maybe Jack was hurt, or maybe Dom just didn't know what was happening. It looked like he'd been knocked in the head pretty good, so how reliable could he be, anyway? Jack wasn't dead. Of course Jack wasn't dead. He couldn't be. He'd been with Dom, and if Dom was alive, surely Jack must be, too. I kept repeating that to myself over and over again. Not dead. Not dead. Couldn't be dead. That's just ridiculous.

"Wait," I called after the paramedic with Dom. "This is my friend, could you just tell me where you found him so that I can call his family and let them know?"

The paramedic turned and shrugged. "We can't tell what's what over there, Miss. I guess he was closer to the outside of the building, or at least on the main floor."

"No, that can't be," I argued. "He was in the basement. He was being held hostage there."

The paramedic shook his head. "Miss, if you'll wait here, someone will be by that you can talk to. Are you feeling all right?"

Shaking my head frantically and waving a dismissing hand at him, I searched for someone else. "Sir," I called, snatching the sleeve of an officer walking past, "where are the injured being taken? I can't find my,"

"The hospital, Miss, the hospital," the officer cut me off before turning and walking back to the information post.

I turned and searched for Gordon. He'd know where Jack was. He'd take me to the hospital. He'd know. "Gordon," I exclaimed as I found him talking to a small group of officers. "I need your help!"

"Crystal, I told you to stay," he breathlessly said. "What're you doing here?" He touched my face. "You've got a nice gash here. How'd that happen?" He raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I was down here when the last explosion happened. I need to find Jack. I found Dom, he just got taken away in an ambulance,"

Gordon cut in. "You were down here just now where everything went?" His upper lip twitched. "Your father is going to kill me."

"No, I don't care. Please just help me find Jack!" I exclaimed. "Listen, they said they found Dom somewhere where he was either on his way outside, or on the main level of the building, so maybe Jack got out. Have you seen him? Maybe they took him to the hospital first. Do you know?" I anxiously twisted a strand of my hair.

Pausing for a second, Gordon seemed to be thinking. He leaned in and softly said, "That's where you were those months everyone thought you were missing, right? You were with him."

I nodded. "Yes. I was there with Jack, but I wanted to be there."

"What about the Joker, Crystal? We saw you with him. The old teller at the bank saw the Joker carry you away. Those people in the middle of town when the Joker crashed the flower van and took out a few mobsters? They saw you, too, and a few of them said that you were in the van when it exploded. The Joker's been putting you in life-threatening situations! Batman told me that the Joker threw you off a skyscraper and almost killed you." Gordon sighed and looked around as the fire burned itself out. "Crystal, the Joker is going to end up killing you."

"I know what you're thinking," I desperately fought. "I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. You don't even know, and my father doesn't know, either. Don't think that. Don't say it." He knew. That was it. The life that I'd hoped to go back to living once I found Jack was over. He knew.

"There is no doubt in my mind, or in your father's, that Jack Napier is the Joker."


	36. Deal or No Deal?

"How could you say that?" I cried indignantly. "You don't even know him. Gordon, I can't believe you!"

"Then tell me who the Joker is, Crystal. If it's not Jack, it must be someone else, right? And you'd be the person to tell me who." Gordon crossed his arms over his chest and exhaled slowly. He was calm, collected. He'd planned out everything he was going to say. He'd known about Jack before this whole incident. "This is important. We've gotta nail this guy down before he kills more people or causes more trouble. Don't you worry about your own safety, Crystal? Has he got you brain washed or something?"

"All the crimes he's committed in the past year are because he was protecting me! He killed the mobsters because they threatened to take me away from him and therefore away from his protection, and then your bad cops, and you've got to see that he's not a bad man. Jack isn't the Joker." Tears welled up in my eyes.

"Why'd he do it? Jack Napier was a successful business man before he fell off of the face of the earth and the Joker started coming around with these crazy schemes." Gordon shrugged and shook his head. "Crystal, we know Jack's secret. I'm not asking you to verify. I'm asking you to try and explain."

I looked at the ground, thinking. "He can't control it. Jack's sweet and honest, and sometimes the Joker just takes control. Jack doesn't remember that the Joker does, he can just guess." An idea struck. "Please, I'll make a deal with you. Just listen. Okay?" I took a deep breath and continued. "Just let me find Jack. If he's okay, just let him walk free. Let me just watch over him. The first time the Joker does something, or even the first time someone sees him walking down the street, well, you'll know where to find him." I begged. "Please, please let him go. Jack Napier is an innocent man."

Gordon took a few deep breaths and stared at my feet. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Innocent until proven guilty," he sighed in defeat. "The next time we see the Joker, we're coming for Jack." He chuckled, and after a moment, laughed, "Your father is going to kill me. I'll be dead before tomorrow morning. You owe me one, kid."

"So do you know where he is? Someone said they've taken the injured people to the hospitals," I asked.

Gordon paused and stared at me. "Everyone was evacuated. There are very few injured parties, and we've got them all listed right here," he slowly said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "The last man taken to the hospital was a man identified as Dominic Dawson. At least, the last time they handed me an updated set of victims."

"Jack's not on there anywhere?" I exclaimed, peeking over the top of the paper.

After scanning the list, Gordon shook his head. "No. Are you sure he was here?"

"You saw the tape with your own eyes! He was in the basement of that building with Dominic and a few of those bad guys, I, I don't know, Dom wasn't in the basement, I, I," I said, tugging at my hair in anxiety.

"Crystal, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but all of those scientists were killed. We found them all together. The ceiling caved in and they were all crushed to death. It's a miracle that Mr. Dawson escaped."

"Jack was right next to Dom, not even two feet away." My stomach tied itself into knots. "There's no way that he's still in there, is there?"

Gordon opened his mouth to speak, but let it shut promptly. A weak shrug was all that was needed to answer my question.

"How many dead, Gordon?" a rough voice came.

I turned around. It was Batman.

"Thirteen," Gordon said, sighing heavily. "Five of Surtoff's team, three custodians, two professors, and three students." He ran a hand through his hair in grief. "We got everyone else out." He handed the list of injured people to Batman. "Missing is one,"

"Jack Napier," Batman said before Gordon could finish. "I know."

I looked back at him. "Father?"

"Don't worry. You don't need his protection anymore. Surtoff is in jail and all of his team are dead. You're safe." He touched my shoulder. "Even if he's managed to sneak away, you'll never have to see him again."


	37. Sneaking Out

"Go to sleep," Bruce said, smiling as he poked his head into my room.

I'd been dragged back to the Wayne Manor by Gordon not a full five minutes after my father showed up. Of course, I'd kicked, screamed, and complained the entire time. I'd refused dinner, and sulked up to my room without a word to anyone.

"Get some rest. We'll figure everything out tomorrow. I'm sure there'll be good news." He turned out the light. He was playing the father role quite well, for never doing it before. "Good night, Crystal." Through sorrow-filled eyes, Bruce looked at me for a moment before shutting the door.

A small voice inside of my head told me that I should do as Father said. Stay here. Get some rest. I needed it, after all. A chorus of angry voices then silenced the other, reminding me that Jack was missing, and that Bruce had no intention of letting me see him, if he were alive or not. I threw back the covers, feeling defiance wash over me. Forget Bruce. I wasn't a child. He couldn't step in and tell me what I could and could not do, even if he was my father.

Luckily, the house was dark and both Bruce and Alfred were sleeping. I crept down the grand staircase into the den. Bruce's jacket was flopped across the chair. Quickly rummaging through the pockets, I found what I was looking for: keys. I snatched them up and quickly but silently made my way to the garage.

The police tape was the only thing keeping me from the disaster site. I easily tore through it and looked around. A few small piles of rubble were still smoldering, but other than that, everything had died down. An eerie feeling hung in the air. The tall buildings that usually stood here were gone. It felt too open. All of the volunteers and emergency workers had gone home for the night. There wasn't anything left for them to do here. Everything smelled like fire. I crept carefully over broken bricks and shattered glass.

"Hello," I quietly called. "Hello?" Perhaps this hadn't been a good idea. Perhaps I was being stupid. I hadn't even called the hospital. Jack was probably there, wondering why I hadn't come by yet.

A small pile of bricks crumbled behind me. I jumped and nearly screamed. When I spun around, I found a mangy dog standing atop the bricks. He wagged his tail innocently. His eyes were big and brown, and friendly.

"Shoo, go home," I hissed.

The dog stared at me for a moment, then cocked its head to the side and made a curious noise.

"Well, go on, go home!"

The dog took a few steps back, its mouth closed attentively.

"That's it, pup, go on, go home."

The dog sat down, staring at me all the while. He suddenly cocked his head to the side again, and made another of those curious dog noises.

"What's the matter? Go home!" I said, spooked by the darn animal.

Now I saw why the dog had been staring. A pair of hands caught me around the waist and pulled me backwards until I felt myself being held against a body. I felt hot breath on my neck, and heard the dog whimper and run away.

"You aren't supposed to be here," a man's voice came.

A wave of chills ran down my spine at the familiar voice.


	38. Now I Reveal My Evil Plan

"Didn't your daddy tell you to stay home tonight?" the man's voice purred in my ear.

My knees felt weak. A brick had just settled in my stomach. A tingling sensation spun through my head.

"Well, didn't he?"

I nodded and whispered, "Yes."

"Look what happened since you didn't listen. You're in trouble yet again, but this time, no one can save you. You are mine, now, and no one will ever know what happened to you."

I felt the arms release me. There was no point in running. He was right. I turned to look at him. A pair of villainous green eyes leered at me.

"I thought you were supposed to be in jail," I mumbled, looking at the ground.

"I was in jail, my dear little thing. Do you think a silly little jail building could keep me from getting what I wanted?" Surtoff scoffed.

"Apparently not." I took a deep breath and looked around. There was no one here. It was the middle of the night. The knot in my stomach tied itself tighter.

"Now, since it seems like you're going to cooperate this time, would you like to know how I knew you'd be here, Miss Thomas?" the doctor smiled widely at me. I was in trouble, and he knew that I knew it.

The longer we stood here in the middle of the disaster site, I thought to myself, the better chance there was of a nighttime patrol man coming by and spotting us. "Yes, please," I meekly replied.

"They never found your precious little boyfriend."

"How'd you know that?" I breathed.

Surtoff raised an eyebrow. "My entire Gotham team was killed in those explosions. Idiots didn't have any idea what they were doing. Blow up the university. Easy. Well, they got the job done, but they didn't get out." He chuckled. "Idiots! At least I'm rid of them now." After a moment's pause, "I know exactly what's happened here. It was my plan, it was my doing!"

"Well," I laughed in disbelief, "you didn't do a very good job! Look at the thousands of people who got away. Barely anyone died, and only a few people were hurt."

"No, no, no," Surtoff interrupted. "I didn't mean to kill, no, not at all. It didn't hurt anything that a handful of people were killed, but that was never the goal, Miss Thomas. The goal was that I get you back into my grasp, and get everyone else out of the way. Look, it worked! Everyone's tired after today's events. They entire police team aren't thinking of coming back here until the morning. You're out here all by yourself, no doubt searching for your boyfriend. Now, come. You'll come with me. We've stood out here long enough."

My mind spun as I went through all the options in my head. Bruce would wake up in the morning and find me missing. Someone would find his car here. I glanced at it. It was in the open where I'd parked it. It was hard to miss. Gordon would find that Surtoff had broken out. Why didn't they know that already? Oh well, I couldn't do anything about it at the moment. Surtoff needed my DNA. He'd probably have to keep me alive, at least for a while. The chances of Gordon and my father finding me weren't too shabby, I figured.

I nodded. "Okay."

Surtoff grabbed my forearm and pulled me around a large pile of broken concrete. A large black SUV was parked there, perfectly hidden from sight. He pulled open the back door for me.

I screamed as something flew out of the SUV and into Surtoff, knocking him backwards onto the concrete. There was a sickening thud as his skull met the blocks. Upon shaking my head and looking closer, I found that Surtoff was now wrestling with a man dressed in a long black coat and a black stocking cap. I couldn't tell who it was, but I didn't care. Whoever it was, whether he was a thief or a looter, I was thankful. I'd rather deal with a feisty young man than a malicious evil scientist.

There were grunts and cries of pain, but all from Surtoff. The newcomer was completely silent as he delivered blow after blow.


	39. Stocking Caps and Candle Holders

"Thank you," I said softly.

The man turned to face me. He pulled off his stocking cap and let it call to the ground. He shrugged off the coat and tossed it aside.

"Oh," I gasped, my hands flying to my face. I had never imagined. It couldn't be possible. "Oh."

Jack stood before me, a small smirk on his face. There wasn't a scratch on him.

"You should be dead," I whispered in shock.

"Let's just say the Joker has a few tricks up his sleeves," Jack said, giving me a nod. His lip twitched, and he seemed to be unsure of what he was doing for a moment.

I took a step back. "Who are you?"

After a moment, Jack laughed. The Joker had disappeared. "It's me. It's really me."

I was in his arms in a second. "Jack, oh, Jack!"

"Crystal," he laughed, pressing me to him tightly. "I'm back. I'm back, and it's me, Crystal. It's me!"

"I know," I laughed through happy tears.

"Dom," he suddenly said, pulling away from me. "Is he,"

"Alive!" I happily finished for him. "He's alive. I saw them take his stretcher into an ambulance, and he talked to me, and he's going to be just fine." I laughed for no apparent reason, and hugged him again. "Oh, Jack."

"Oh, Jack," another voice came. This voice wasn't filled with love, as mine was.

"Father," I said, pulling away from Jack.

"So," Batman said, walking towards us from across the parking lot, "here we are."

I quickly stepped in front of Jack, trying to shield him from my father. "No. Don't you arrest him, Father, don't you even dare. I'd be dead if it wasn't for him. He's the only reason I'm still alive, and that you're still alive! If it wasn't for him, they'd have taken me and taken my DNA and made something bad and it would have killed you. You owe it to him," I spat all in one breath. "Don't you do it."

"Don't do what?" Batman asked, not ten feet away from us now.

"Crystal," Jack mumbled, gently pushing me aside. "Let me."

I stood and watched as the men approached each other.

Jack stood, a little nervously, and took a deep breath. He struck out his hand.

Batman looked for a moment, before shaking it. "Mr. Napier, isn't it?"

"Yes, Sir," Jack answered.

"I hear you've been protecting my daughter for all of this time."

"Yes, Sir," Jack answered again. "For the most part, I've kept her safe. As safe as I was able to, at least."

I couldn't help but smile.

"I expect you'll keep her safe from now on, Mr. Napier."

My jaw dropped at the same time as Jack's.

"Sir?"

"Dad?"

Batman raised an eyebrow. "I see no problem with a businessman taking care of my daughter." He put special emphasis on 'businessman'.

"Certainly not, Sir. There won't be any problems, if you know what I mean." Jack nodded, and a smile finally broke on his face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I exclaimed as I ran to Batman and hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

"For what?" Batman asked. "I see no reason why I should have a problem with this man. Why, he's nothing out of the ordinary." He winked. He was so good at acting like he had no idea what had been happening. Although everyone knew that the others knew, we didn't speak it.

Batman turned and disappeared into the night.

"The Joker's gone, isn't he?" I asked quietly.

Jack threw his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek. "I don't know who you're talking about, Crystal."

* * *

"No, no, no," I laughed. "The ribbons go around the candle holders, not the candles."

"Ugh!" Dom exclaimed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "This is women's work, you know that, right?"

"I'm too busy with other things to fuss with table decorations," I laughed.

"Where're your bridesmaids, aren't they supposed to be dealing with this rubbish?" He called after me.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bruce called after me. "Don't you leave us here to decorate this place."

"Just going to get more ribbon from my car! Don't worry." I smiled. "Thanks for helping, Daddy."

Bruce sighed and waved a dismissing hand. "What're fathers for? Oh, right, paying for this wedding. Can't I just hire someone to do this?" He shook a wad of ribbon as I laughed and headed into the hallway.

"Hello, Miss Wayne," a seductive voice from behind me came.

"Hello, Mr. Napier," I replied as I turned around and greeted him with a kiss. "What're you doing here? I thought you had official grooms things to do before the ceremony tomorrow?"

He pulled a bouquet of lilies from behind his back. "For you," he said with a wink before he disappeared into the hall to help Dom.

A small blush rose in my cheeks. I pulled the card out of the flowers and read it.

_"To our happily ever after. Love, Jack."_


End file.
